The 77th Emmy Nominations went live today, and while we’re ecstatic to see Bowen Yang and Kristen Kish nominated, we find our mission here at G.A.P.I.N.G. Magazine to be all the more necessary!
Bowen Yang made history as the most-nominated Asian Male Actor ever, with 4 nominations throughout his career. Yang has been nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his work in Saturday Night Live, the same category in which he was nominated in 2021, 2022, and 2024. Beginning his SNL career as a writer in 2018, Bowen has consistently brought laughter and joy to the world, and we hope that he finally gets the W! In this category, he stands against Ike Barinholtz (“The Studio”), Colman Domingo (“The Four Seasons”), Harrison Ford (“Shrinking”), Jeff Hiller (“Somebody Somewhere”), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (“The Bear”), and Michael Urie (“Shrinking”).
Kristen Kish has been nominated for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program, previously nominated for the same category last year for the same show, Top Chef. Interestingly enough, her competition for this year remains the same: RuPaul, the hosts of Shark Tank, Alan Cumming (The Traitors), and Jeff Probst (Survivor).
With both of these consistent nominations, we can deduce that AAPI representation, and Queer ones at that, prove that our community is not short of talent and we do put in the hard work like we were raised to do. “Pachinko” stands as the only AAPI-led project nominated for Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative or Tantasy Program and Outstanding Cinematography for a Series, and the only other two AAPI nominees include Ali Wong for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) and Steven Yeun for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for his work in Invincible. “Pachinko” was previously nominated in 2022 for Main Title Design. Ali Wong won last year for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her performance in “Beef,” with Steven Yeun earning Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for the same project.
There are other AAPI forward projects in the running like “The Pitt” and “The White Lotus” (shoutout to HBO for the inclusion, they are merely AAPI forward and not AAPI-led. The Wrap released their Emmys Diversity Report earlier today, headlining that “LGBTQ and Black Performers Thrive, but Overall POC Representation Is Down.” The article stated:
“This is a massive dip from the past few years, when ‘Shōgun,’ ‘Beef’ and ‘Squid Game’ scored slews of nods and wins. “Squid Game” failed to garner a single nomination this year.
Indigenous representation took an even bigger hit, with zero above-the-line nominations just one year after the history-making recognition for Lily Gladstone, Kali Reis and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Ta.”
The overall consensus in the industry world was that “Squid Games” was snubbed this year; However, I believe that if they didn’t cut that final season into two separate ones, that would not have been the case. After the considerably lower amount of nominations compared to the previous year, I can only hope that more AAPI forward projects are green-lit. We are already seeing Disney’s shift further into the AAPI realm as projects like “Lilo & Stitch 2” and the “Moana” live-action film are moving forward.
In addition, this year’s nominations with Yang and Kish prove that authenticity and perseverance are key to making your mark in the world. It is proof that Queer AAPI perspectives matter, and hopefully, that resonates with industry leaders in terms of supporting projects of the same beat. We’ve already seen queer AAPI stories score better, like during the summer of 2022 when Fire Island overcame Bros in critics’ ratings. Strides have been made in this past year alone, like The Wedding Banquet and A Nice Indian Boy, so we are cautiously optimistic.
G.A.P.I.N.G. Magazine’s mission is to become a home for the AAPI LGBTQ community and highlight all of our Influence, News, and Glory, and wins like this move, and being able to highlight Yang and Kish in this way makes the work worth it. More views and more traction will prove to the rest of the world that Queer AAPI stories matter. This year’s Emmy nominations definitely help fill the hole in representation, but we know there is still a long way to go.
G.A.P.I.N.G. Magazine 
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