Credit: NetflixA false report from Entertainment Tonight sparked debate on social media on Sunday after the outlet claimed Steven Yeun and Ali Wong were the first Asian-Americans to win Golden Globes for a limited series, Netflix’s Beef.
Yeun and Wong are Danny Cho and Amy Lau, total strangers engaged in a lengthy feud (hence, “beef”) after a road rage incident. Beef writer and creator Lee Sung Jin based the show on a real-life experience, even thanking the other driver for their role in the series while accepting the Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or TV Film on Sunday.
On top of the show’s accolade, both Beef stars won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and Actress In A Miniseries or Motion Picture for TV. Entertainment Tonight celebrated the pair on X (formerly known as Twitter) shortly after that, claiming they were the first Asian-American actors to win Golden Globes for any limited television series.
Viewers quickly pointed out that Darren Criss, who is half-Filipino, was the first Asian-American to win a Golden Globe Award for a limited series in 2019. The Glee alum received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture for TV for his performance as Andrew Cunanan in American Crime Story: Assassination of Gianni Versace.
Ironically, Entertainment Tonight celebrated Criss on X at the time:
.@DarrenCriss is beyond humble as the FIRST Filipino American to win an Emmy, Golden Globe, Critic’s Choice and SAG award. “It’s been the coolest year for representation across the board in film, television and culture in general.” 💛 #SAGawards
.@DarrenCriss is beyond humble as the FIRST Filipino American to win an Emmy, Golden Globe, Critic’s Choice and SAG award. “It’s been the coolest year for representation across the board in film, television and culture in general.” 💛 #SAGawards pic.twitter.com/36lmqM8MIK
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) January 28, 2019
The post about Yeun and Wong has since been deleted, but not before it inspired similar headlines from news aggregators like @DiscussingFilm. Frustrated Golden Globes viewers are replying in droves. From @raventbrunner:
Why is there mass Darren Criss erasure happening right now? I wasn’t going to say anything because Steven and Ali’s wins are still great achievements for the AAPI community but DC won this award for Versace in 2019 and made the same “first AA actor” headlines. Lazy reporting.
Why is there mass Darren Criss erasure happening right now? I wasn’t going to say anything because Steven and Ali’s wins are still great achievements for the AAPI community but DC won this award for Versace in 2019 and made the same “first AA actor” headlines.
Lazy reporting. https://t.co/Qjd2QMkHLw pic.twitter.com/HTf8O0KP74
— Raven Brunner (@raventbrunner) January 8, 2024
“It was actually Darren Criss, you all need to learn that Asian ≠ exclusively East Asian people,” @uncledaemonkink wrote.
It was actually Darren Criss, you all need to learn that Asian ≠ exclusively East Asian people https://t.co/BYTDfIumhF pic.twitter.com/VWLIq2cvrX
— megan (@uncledaemonkink) January 8, 2024
The correction doesn’t impact Wong, who remains the first Asian-American actress to win a Golden Globe Award for any limited television series.
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