The 73rd annual Emmy Awards will take place on Sept. 19.
And this year’s nominations, announced on July 13, have a lot more diversity.
Performers of color composed 44 percent of the acting nominations—the biggest number ever besting the 36 percent set in 2018 and 2020.
For the past five years, white actors and actresses have made up about 80% of the nominees.
With 18 nominations, the recently canceled HBO miniseries Lovecraft Country led the charge for diversity. Five of the actors are Black, including Jurnee Smollett and Jonathan Majors, both who received their first Emmy nominations for Lead Actress and Lead Actor. Aunjanue Ellis received her second nomination, this time in a Supporting Actress Drama Series.
With six of its twelve nominations, Disney+’s Broadway musical feature Hamilton also scored on the diversity front in a big way.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Tony-winning musical’s creator and star, is nominated in the Lead Actor Limited/Anthology Series/Movie category, alongside Leslie Odom Jr., as well as Renée Elise Goldsberry and Phillipa Soo in the Supporting Actress Limited/Anthology Series/Movie category, and Daveed Diggs and Anthony Ramos for Supporting Actor.
Mj Rodriguez made Emmy history by becoming the first transgender actress to be nominated for a lead acting role for playing Blanca in FX’s series Pose, that highlights New York City’s Latino and African American LGBTQ ballroom culture.
In 2019, the hashtag #emmyssowhite was trending after many performers called out the organization for its tone-deaf practices and lack of diversity.
That year, Billy Porter called for equality and diversity in his acceptance speech after being the first openly gay Black man to win an Emmy for lead actor in FX’s Pose.
“We are the people,” he said. “We as artists are the people that get to change the molecular structure of the hearts and minds of the people who live on this planet. Please don’t ever stop doing that. Please don’t ever stop telling the truth.”
