Emmys 2026: Widow's Bay Sweeps, Jean Smart Goes Five-for-Five, and No Person of Color Wins an Acting Emmy

The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards belonged to a first-year show. "Widow's Bay" won best comedy series, capping a huge night for Apple TV's new genre-bending thriller, and its star did something no one had done before: Matthew Rhys became the first man to win two lead actor categories in the same year for his work on that show and the limited series "The Beast in Me." "Widow's Bay" also swept the supporting comedy categories and took writing and directing, with Kate O'Flynn and Stephen Root collecting the acting trophies.

Jean Smart made history with a fifth consecutive win for "Hacks." "The Pitt" took best drama series along with lead actor for Noah Wyle, and "Pluribus" earned lead actress for Rhea Seehorn and best writing. Smart is now the first woman to win an acting Emmy for every season of a series. Allison Janney (The Diplomat) and Tom Pelphrey (Task) took the drama supporting awards, and 79-year-old Sally Field became the oldest woman to win her category for "Remarkably Bright Creatures." Mariska Hargitay became the first woman to host the ceremony in 15 years.

The night's emotional center was Michael J. Fox. Fox received a standing ovation as he accepted the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for his contributions to Parkinson's research. Presented by his former "Good Wife" costar Julianna Margulies, Fox took the stage in a wheelchair and used his speech to reflect on Hope's example. The show also paid tribute to late Emmy winners Rob Reiner, Catherine O'Hara and Dolly Parton; Reiner had posthumously won a guest-acting Emmy the week before for "The Bear."

Then there is what the tributes couldn't paper over. For the first time in five years, no person of color won an acting Emmy at the Primetime ceremony. All 10 performers honored during Monday's three-hour telecast were white, from "The Pitt," "Pluribus," "Task," "The Diplomat," "Widow's Bay," "Hacks" and "Remarkably Bright Creatures." The last time that happened was 2021, the year that gave us #EmmysSoWhite.

The nominees were there. Sterling K. Brown for "Paradise," Quinta Brunson for "Abbott Elementary," Ayo Edebiri for "The Bear," Yahya Abdul-Mateen II for "Wonder Man," Colman Domingo for "The Four Seasons" and Tyler James Williams for "Abbott Elementary" each lost in their respective category. Oscar Isaac, a Gold Derby favorite for "Beef," lost to Rhys. The only performers of color to win this cycle did so at the Creative Arts ceremony: Ernest Harden Jr. for "The Pitt" and Octavia Spencer for narrating "Lost Women of Alaska." Behind the camera, Hiro Murai made history as the first Asian person to win comedy directing.

The shutout didn't come from nowhere. By Variety's count, 17 performers of color were nominated in the lead and supporting races this year, down from 28 a year ago, a 39% decline; the figure peaked in 2021 at 49. Deadline put on-screen diversity among nominees at an 11-year low. Fewer seats at the table means fewer names in the envelope. Five years after the last #EmmysSoWhite, the Television Academy is right back where it started.