It was a big night for diversity at the 2024 Emmys: Five of the twelve Emmys went to people of color, tying the 1991 record.
The first two awards of the night – wins for Ayo Edebiri for “The Bear” and Quinta Brunson for “Abbot Elementary” – made history. For the first time, both the Best Actress in a Comedy Series and Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series awards went to Black women. Viola Davis and Uzo Aduba achieved the same in the drama category in 2015.
Edebiri is the third Black woman to take home the trophy in the supporting actress category, following Jackée Harry for “227” in 1987 and Sheryl Lee Ralph for “Abbott Elementary” in 2022, a year after she became the second Black woman to do so Woman won for writing a comedy series, Brunson became the second Black woman to win lead actress in a comedy series, following Isabel Sanford for “The Jefferson” (1981).
Niecy Nash-Betts became the third Black actress to win an Emmy for best supporting actress in a miniseries or television film. She received the award for her role in “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”. “I accept this award on behalf of all Black and brown women who have been unheard and yet over-policed, like Glenda Cleveland, like Sandra Bland, like Breonna Taylor,” Nash-Betts said on stage, referring to her Dahmer figure as well as two of the Black women whose deaths at the hands of police have made headlines in recent years. “As an artist, my job is to speak truth to power, and I will do that until the day I die.”
Ali Wong made history
Ali Wong also made history: She is the first Asian woman to win an Emmy for a leading role. Wong won the award for best actress in a miniseries or television film for her performance in “Beef,” continuing the Netflix series’ winning streak. Her co-star Steven Yeun also won the award for best actor in a miniseries or television film. This is the first time that two Asian actors have won a leading role award at a major awards ceremony on the same night. “Beef” creator Lee Sung Jin took home the awards for best series, best director and best screenplay, becoming the first Asian to win all three categories in the same year.
On stage, Lee gave a heartfelt speech about inclusion. “I feel like we live in a world designed to divide us,” he continued. “Even here, some of us go home with trophies and some of us don’t. I think when you live in a world like that, you think there’s no way you could ever be understood or liked by anyone, let alone be loved. So the greatest joy of working on Beef was really working with the people up here who loved so unconditionally. Thank you very much. To everyone out there who was directly or indirectly involved in the show, thank you.”