If there's one thing the Television Academy will always uphold, it’s excellence. Our flagship awards, which give this magazine its name, are a toast to the most memorable and creatively sublime programs of the year, and the 2025 Emmy nominees are no different. This is a class of true gems that made us laugh, broke our hearts and stuck with us, and they deserve to be praised.
The Emmys are a reflection of the best of what television has to offer — which also means that they can only reflect what television has offered. Our past two ceremonies were historic celebrations of superlative artists and storytellers from a variety of communities and identities: white, Black, Asian, Latino, Indigenous, LGBTQ. But there’s no denying the current retrograde push throughout the nation, driven by the highest seat of government and enabled by the biggest corporate brands, including in Hollywood. This cultural conservatism has impacted what projects get developed, what gets greenlit and what ultimately makes it into our living rooms.
Let me be clear: This is not a criticism of this year’s very deserving nominees, or a complaint about snubs. But if the Academy’s concern is excellence, then we must be concerned when the full spectrum of excellence that we know our industry is capable of appears to be only partially represented. It was exactly a decade ago that Viola Davis stood onstage and delivered her iconic acceptance speech for becoming the first Black woman to win lead actress in a drama, a long-overdue milestone. “You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there,” she said then, and her point remains relevant now.
We also cannot deny that more traditional TV outlets are locked in tight competition with YouTube and other social media platforms, which not only continue to gain ground with audiences but are known to be more diverse on the creator side as well. (These two factors may not be coincidental to one another.) Continuing to push for inclusion is about safeguarding the future of television, and we cannot afford to take our foot off the gas.
Speaking as a native Californian, I’ve seen members of our city stand up — with their voices, their resources and their bodies — against the ICE raids that continue to terrorize our neighbors and colleagues in Los Angeles. This is not the time to bend the knee. In addition to whatever actions people opt to take in their personal lives, as mass media storytellers, we can continue to create an industry that reflects the broad spectrum of our humanity and our audiences. We must stand in our professional excellence and ensure that we are not leaving half of our population without a voice.
This chair letter originally appeared in emmy magazine, issue #9, 2025.
