Lee Sung Jin and the team from “Beef” accept the award for outstanding limited or anthology series during the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
LOS ANGELES — Steven Yeun and Ali Wong of “Beef” had historic wins at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day ceremony that was finally held four months late after a turbulent year of strikes in Hollywood.
“Beef” from Netflix also won best limited series, while Yeun and Wong became the first Asian Americans to win in their categories—Yeun for best actor in a limited series and Wong for best actress. It had eight Emmys overall after three wins at the Creative Arts Emmys. Creator Lee Sung Jin won Emmys for writing and directing. He accepted the honor with a heartfelt and funny speech.
“Wow, thank you. You know, a lot of the suicidal ideation in this show was based on stuff that I and some of the folks up here have struggled with over the years,” he said. “Even here, some of us go home with trophies, other people don’t. I think for some of us when we live in a world like this, you begin to think there’s no way anyone can ever understand you or like you or much less have no potential at being loved. So the greatest joy of working on ‘Beef’ has truly been working with the folks up here who loved me so unconditionally. Thank you to them. To anyone out there who directly or indirectly was involved with the show, thank you so much.”
“Beef” beat out “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” “Daisy Jones & the Six,” “Fleishman Is in Trouble” and “Obi-Wan Kenobi.” The series has been dominant in awards season so far, with a total of 13 Emmy nominations and four Critics Choice nominations. At the Golden Globes, it won in all three categories it was nominated in—best limited series, best actor in a limited series and best actress in a limited series.