There’s no question that winning prizes at a televised awards show can increase an artist’s visibility and clout. But for the awards season so far in 2025, Black actors and Black actresses in TV shows have been getting snubbed at televised awards shows open to all racial groups. At this year’s Golden Globe Awards, Critics Choice Awards, and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, no Black artists won in categories for TV actors and TV actresses.
Among the Black/Black multiracial nominees snubbed were award veterans Quinta Brunson, Tyler James Williams, and Janelle James of ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” comedy series, and Ayo Edebiri and Liza Colón-Zayas of FX on Hulu’s “The Bear” comedy series. Kali Reis of HBO’s “True Detective: Night Country” anthology drama series and Shanola Hampton of NBC’s “Found” drama series were among first-time nominees shut out of winning prizes for at least one of the above-named awards shows, whose organizations are all headquartered in the Los Angeles area.
Representatives for the all three awards organizations did not respond to Black News & Views’ requests for comment.
Meanwhile, the 56th annual NAACP Image Awards—whose televised portion was held Feb. 22 in Pasadena, California—had several Black winners in TV categories who didn’t even get nominated at those other three awards shows this year, even though these cast members were eligible. These NAACP Image Award winners include Queen Latifah of CBS’s drama series “The Equalizer”; Lynn Whitfield of Showtime’s drama series “The Chi”; Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. of CBS’s comedy series “Poppa’s House”; Michael Rainey Jr. and Cliff “Method Man” Smith of Starz’s drama series “Power Book II: Ghost”; Danielle Pinnock of CBS’s comedy series “Ghosts”; Samuel L. Jackson and Taraji P. Henson of Peacock’s limited drama series “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist”; Naturi Naughton of Lifetime’s drama “Abducted at an HBCU: A Black Girl Missing Movie”; and Aaron Pierre of Netflix’s made-for-TV “Rebel Ridge” action movie.
Netflix’s drama movie “The Six Triple Eight”—which won five NAACP Image Awards and was Oscar-nominated for Best Original Song—was submitted in motion picture (not TV) categories because of its limited theatrical release. “The Six Triple Eight” is not eligible for Primetime Emmy Awards because, since 2022, the Television Academy has had a policy that an Oscar-nominated movie cannot be nominated for an Emmy Award.
The nonprofit National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), founded in 1909, is the oldest and largest civil rights group in the United States. Winners of most of the NAACP Image Awards are voted for by the NAACP members, NAACP associates, and members of the general public.
The NAACP steps in where Hollywood shuts out Black artists, Kyle Bowser, senior vice president of the NAACP’s Hollywood Bureau, told Black News & Views.
“The Black experience, depictions of that experience, and the artists that embody those depictions on TV are marginalized, so as to distinguish and diminish their import and impact, while emphasizing the significance of the dominant culture,” Bowser said. “While the industry is woefully remiss in celebrating Black entertainers deserving of awards and accolades, 42 million Black people in America are even more deserving of acknowledgement for an incalculable contribution made to ‘mainstream’ culture.”
The awards system is not set up for inclusion, one industry observer said.
“The gap between NAACP Image Award winners and nominees at mainstream awards isn’t accidental—it’s a pattern,” said Kristen Marston, chief impact officer for The League, a nonprofit group dedicated to diversity in pop culture. “Time and time again, Black-led storytelling is celebrated by audiences but dismissed by institutions that still see prestige through a narrow, exclusionary lens. These awards have long struggled to recognize Black talent unless it fits into certain narratives or comes through industry channels that have historically excluded us. Until the criteria for ‘excellence’ shifts to reflect the full spectrum of artistry, Black actors will continue to be overlooked—not because their work isn’t brilliant, but because the system was never built to honor them.”
When it comes to “mainstream” televised awards shows that have snubbed Black TV actors and actresses, the numbers show those organizations can improve when it comes to Black representation, inclusion, and leadership.
Golden Globe Awards
The Golden Globe Awards are voted for by American and international journalists who are members or associate voters of Golden Globes LLC. The 82nd annual ceremony took place Jan. 5 in Beverly Hills, California, and aired on CBS. The Golden Globes were launched and previously voted for by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), an organization of journalists tainted by widely reported allegations of anti-Black racism and other ethics issues.
In June 2023, the HFPA disbanded after the Golden Globe Awards were bought by Penske Media Eldridge, which includes Dick Clark Productions and investment firm Eldridge Industries. The 2025 Golden Globe Awards had 334 voters, of which 11% are Black, according to statistics on the awards site. But racial diversity issues still exist for the Golden Globe Awards.
On the Golden Globes website, the three leaders who are listed as being at the top of the organization are all white people, including President Helen Hoehne, who was also president of the troubled and racially challenged HFPA. The Golden Globes eight-person board of directors is racially diverse but has only one Black person.
At the 2025 Golden Globe Awards, only five Black/Black multiracial people (10%) were among the 48 nominees in the eight categories for TV actors and TV actresses. Black/Black multiracial people were nominated in three of those eight categories.
Critics Choice Awards
The Critics Choice Association—a nonprofit group of film and TV journalists mostly based in North America—votes for the Critics Choice Awards. The 30th Critics Choice Awards took place Feb. 7 in Santa Monica, California, and aired on E! Only 8% of the association’s 575 voting members are Black, according to the association’s website.
The Critics Choice Association has a separate annual awards show—Celebration of Black Cinema & Television—whose winners are announced in advance of the ceremony and are chosen by the Critics Choice Association’s Celebration of Black Cinema & Television committee. The seventh Celebration of Black Cinema & Television took place on Dec. 9 in Los Angeles, with highlights televised on Starz.
Just like the Golden Globes group, the Critics Choice Association has a racially diverse board of directors. The Critics Choice Association’s current eight-member board includes four people of color: three who are Black and one who is Afro-Latino. But outside the board of directors, the Critics Choice Association’s executives on the vice president level and above are all white.
At the 2025 Critics Choice Awards, 10 Black/Black multiracial people (14%) were among the 72 nominees in the 12 categories for TV actors and TV actresses. Black/Black multiracial people were nominated in nine of those 12 categories.
Screen Actors Guild Awards
These prizes are voted for by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), a nonprofit American labor union that has more than 160,000 members, according to SAG-AFTRA, which does not release information on the group’s racial demographics. The 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards (livestreamed worldwide on Netflix) took place on February 23 at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles.
The leadership of SAG-AFTRA’s 10-member board of directors is racially diverse, with five Black people who have titles of vice president or above. However, there’s an alarming lack of Black representation elsewhere in upper management. There are no Black people on SAG-AFTRA’s executive staff list shown on the organization’s website. According to this list, the only person of color is Ray Rodriguez, chief contract officer. In addition, SAG-AFTRA has separate committees for all underrepresented racial groups except for Black people.
At the 2025 Screen Actors Guild Awards, 32 Black/Black multiracial people (18%) were among the 180 nominees in the eight TV actor/actress categories that list the individual people who are nominated. Black/Black multiracial people were nominated in three of those eight categories.
Black actors ‘historically underinvested in and undervalued’
There’s more at play here than just accidental exclusion, according to Marston of The League.
“The lack of Black winners in major TV award categories this season isn’t just an oversight—it’s a reflection of the deeper structural issues that have shaped the entertainment industry for decades,” Marston said. She cites Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor’s performance in the FX limited drama series “Justified: City Primeval” as an example of being award-worthy this awards season but snubbed by voters.
Marston continued, “Awards aren’t just about recognizing talent; they’re about access, visibility, and who is positioned as ‘deserving’ within an ecosystem that still centers a narrow definition of prestige. Even when Black actors deliver groundbreaking performances, they are navigating an industry that has historically underinvested in and undervalued Black storytelling. What we’re seeing isn’t a failure of Black talent—it’s a reflection of the systems that decide what and who is worthy of recognition.”
Said the NAACP’s Bowser, “It is incumbent upon marginalized people to not only fight for their rights, privileges, and earned station within a society, but to also relinquish the desire to secure validation from oppressors. Each effort presents new challenges to be mastered and hopefully affirmed.”
