#EmmysSoWhite again: No actors of colour win during 2026 Primetime Emmys
There was a clear lack of diversity among the winners during Monday night's Emmy Awards broadcast. Actors of colour were entirely shut out of the major acting categories, with all 10 broadcasted awards going to white performers.
All acting category winners during TV's biggest night were white
Griffin Jaeger · CBC News
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In 2015, activist and writer April Reign created the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag.
Now, she says she doesn't really watch award shows live, and last night's Emmys was an example of why.
There was a clear lack of diversity among the winners during Monday night's Primetime Emmy Awards broadcast. Actors of colour were entirely shut out of the major acting categories, with all 10 broadcasted awards going to white performers.
"It's not a regression, it's definitely a stall," said Reign.
The other two major acting categories — supporting actor and supporting actress in a limited series — were given out last week at the Creative Arts Emmys, but those winners didn't change the tally.
'A pattern, not a moment'
By Tuesday morning, #EmmysSoWhite was trending, with users calling out the Television Academy on social media.
"The academy saw that three black women made history at the Emmys winning the big categories of the night and how happy everybody was and said never again," one user wrote on X, referencing the 2024 Emmy awards, "so now we’re stuck with #EmmysSOWhite for the foreseeable future "
"What is this... #EmmysSoWhite" wrote another, alongside a photo composite of the winners.
Reign started the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag in 2015, when all 20 acting nominees for the Academy Awards that year were white, sparking a conversation and a movement about the Academy and its voting body.
While there have been some changes in the following years aimed at addressing these discrepancies, Reign called out Monday's results.
"This is a pattern, not a moment," Reign said in an interview with CBC News. "A single snub is an accident. A pattern this consistent is a design feature of how the institution votes."
The Television Academy released a transparency report in February revealing that the majority of its members in 2026 — 67 per cent — were white. It publishes this report annually, with the first official one coming out in 2021.
At the same time, the academy pointed to steady year-over-year growth in its membership among people identifying as biracial, multiracial, East Asian and Southeast Asian, as well as women, non-binary, transgender and intersex voters.
Reign said the conversation around representation needs to begin long before awards season, pointing to the writers, casting directors and behind-the-scenes decision-makers who shape which stories and characters make it to the screen.
"We can't wait until we get to the award shows to have this conversation when, you know, the pipeline starts before a single word is written on the page," she said. She suggests asking questions like who the casting directors and show-runners are, and who is saying a white character couldn't be queer or a person of colour.
"Those are the questions that we need to ask from the very beginning so that we're not having these conversations again in February or March for the Oscars, and in September for the Emmys, because it's too late."
It's worth noting that outside of the primetime broadcast, Ernest Harden Jr. picked up an acting win Monday night for his guest-starring role as Louie Cloverfield on The Pitt. But the guest acting categories weren't presented during the broadcast. Octavia Spencer also won for narrating Lost Women of Alaska.
And while Monday night's show was a complete shutout for actors of colour, director Hiro Murai won a golden statuette for Widow's Bay. He's now the first Asian filmmaker to win best directing for a comedy series at the Emmys and only the third to win a primetime Emmy in any category, joining Emmy-winning directors Lee Sung Jin, who won for Beef, and Hwang Dong-hyuk, who won for Squid Game.
How does this compare to previous years?
Representation at the Emmys was actually down before Monday's ceremony even started.
Variety reports only 17 performers of colour scored acting nominations this year — a sharp drop from 28 last year.
The Emmys made headlines for diverse nominations in 2021, however every single lead and supporting acting winner that year ended up being white, also prompting the hashtag #EmmysSoWhite.
Let's look at how things have shaken out over the last few years for diverse winners at the Emmys.
Last year (2025): One of the 12 acting races went to a person of color — Tramell Tillman won for Severance and made history as the first Black man to take home outstanding supporting actor in a drama series.
2024: Four out of the dozen acting trophies went to diverse winners (including Liza Colón-Zayas, Lamorne Morris and Shōgun stars Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai).
2024 (January): This delayed ceremony was the peak of diversity for acting wins, with five actors of colour taking the stage to claim trophies: Quinta Brunson, Ayo Edebiri, Niecy Nash-Betts, Steven Yeun and Ali Wong.
2022: We saw three diverse performers win: Lee Jung-jae, Zendaya and Sheryl Lee Ralph.
2021: This was the last time all of the primetime acting winners were white.
On the Television Academy's official site, it says the academy is "dedicated to honouring excellence in television while promoting creativity and diversity, and empowering storytellers through recognition, education and leadership"
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Griffin Jaeger is a reporter and producer with CBC's entertainment unit. He also formerly hosted and produced content for The National’s digital platforms. You can reach him at griffin.jaeger@cbc.ca
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