Emmy Awards 2024: ‘Succession,’ ‘The Bear’ and diversity are big winners

'Beef' dominated the limited series categories with five Emmys, including the first for an Asian American actress in a lead role for Ali Wong.

“Succession” and “The Bear” each won six Emmys on Monday, but the 75th annual Emmy Awards also included more diversity among its winners than in many, if not most, past years.

“Beef,” which dominated the limited series categories with five awards, delivered the first Emmy for an Asian American actress in a lead role when Ali Wong won for limited or anthology series or movie. Steven Yeun also won lead actor in a limited series.

Earlier in the show, three Black actresses won acting Emmys, including Quinta Brunson for “Abbott Elementary,” who is only the second Black woman to win best lead actress in a comedy, and the first in more than four decades.

Ayo Edebiri won best supporting actress in a comedy series for “The Bear,” and Niecy Nash-Betts won best supporting actress in a limited or anthology series or movie.

Host Anthony Anderson joked at one point that the show, held on the federal holiday in honor of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was “like MLK Day and Juneteenth all rolled into one.”

For “Succession,” the series ended on a high with lead actor and actress wins in a drama for Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook, and supporting actor for Matthew Macfadyen. “Succession” creator Jesse Armstrong joked about the parallels between real life and the show in accepting for best drama.

“This is a show about a family but it’s also about when partisan news coverage gets entwined with with divisive rightwing politics,” Armstrong said. “And as I understand it, after four seasons of satire that’s a problem that’s now fixed.”

In addition to Edebiri’s win, “The Bear” also won best lead actor in a comedy for Jeremy Allen White, and best supporting actor for Ebon Moss-Bachrach.