Black performers walked away from the 2026 Primetime Emmy Awards without a single win Sunday (September 14), despite several high-profile nominees entering the night with a chance to make history.
Among the prominent Black nominees were Quinta Brunson, Zendaya, Colman Domingo and Tyler James Williams, along with directors Salli Richardson-Whitfield and Hanelle M. Culpepper. Several even entered the ceremony with opportunities to make Emmy history.
Brunson was nominated for both Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and Writing for a Comedy Series. A win in either category would have made her the first Black woman to win each award twice.
Zendaya was nominated for Lead Actress in a Drama Series, where a victory would have made her the first Black woman to win the category three times.
Richardson-Whitfield was nominated twice for Directing for a Drama Series for The Gilded Age and Task, while Culpepper was nominated for Paradise. No Black woman has ever won the category, meaning either director could have made history with a victory.
Domingo and Williams were both nominated for Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. A win for either would have made him only the second Black man to win the category, ending a 47-year drought since Robert Guillaume won in 1979. A victory for Domingo also would have made him the first Afro-Latino actor to win the award.
Instead, none of those history-making possibilities became reality.
The results of the show reignited the #EmmysSoWhite hashtag, which gained traction during the 2021 Emmys after all 12 lead and supporting acting awards went to white performers, despite a record number of performers of color receiving nominations that year.
This year, 17 performers of color were nominated across the lead and supporting acting categories, down from 28 in 2025 and 49 in 2021
Gold Derby reported that 2026 is the first time in five years that the Primetime Emmys have had no acting winners of color.
The results were particularly notable for Abbott Elementary, which received seven nominations this year, including acting nods for Quinta Brunson, Janelle James and Tyler James Williams.
Sheryl Lee Ralph, who stars as Barbara Howard on the ABC comedy, offered a pointed assessment of this year’s competition on the Emmys red carpet.
“Abbott Elementary is the only real comedy nominated,” Ralph said
The series ultimately went home without a win.
Black Performers weren’t entirely shut out of this year’s broader Emmy Awards cycle.
Ernest Harden Jr. won guest actor in a drama for HBO Max’s The Pittat the Creative Arts Emmys, while Octa Alaska
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