Emmys spark controversy after no actors of color win, #EmmysSoWhite resurfaces

In 2015, #OscarsSoWhite became a social media phenomenon when all acting nominations at the Oscars excluded people of color. The following year, acting nominations went to white actors again, prompting a flood of people to raise concern about racial inequity in entertainment.

By 2021, #EmmysSoWhite started to bubble up for the same reason, with all acting roles in the comedy, drama and limited series categories at the Emmys going to white actors. And now, five years later, people are beginning to recirculate the hashtag, following the Sept. 14 Emmys broadcast on NBC and Peacock.

At the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, TV's biggest night was marked by historic wins for Welsh actor Matthew Rhys, who won two lead acting Emmys for Apple TV's "Widow's Bay" and Netflix's "The Beast in Me," and Jean Smart's fifth Emmy as a comedy vet in HBO Max's "Hacks."

Despite the memorable wins, audiences at home began to pick up on the familiar pattern, wondering why, out of the 12 acting Emmys − 10 of which were given out on Sept. 14, and the other two handed out at the Creative Arts Emmys on Sept. 5 and 6 − no actors of color walked home with…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/entertainment/