Dear Gossips,

The Emmy nominations will be announced today and there’s no question that Abbott Elementary will lead the nominations on the comedy side and that Succession will come in with the most nominations out of everyone.

What we’re watching for is just how many nominations Succession will end up with – we could be looking at a record, especially for acting nominations. Succession already holds the record for the most acting nominations (14 last year) and this year they’ve submitted even more actors for consideration. In the supporting actor category alone, Succession could end up taking four out of the eight nomination spots as Nicholas Bruan, Matthew McFadyen, Alan Ruck, and Alexander Skarsgard are all in play.

The other Emmys storyline I’m following is Beef. Several outlets are predicting that Beef will come through with at least three if not four nominations in the limited series categories including lead acting nominations for both Steven Yeun and Ali Wong.

Beef is one of the most acclaimed series of the year, it’s a really good show. But there’s a major problem with it – the fact that David Choe was cast and when showrunner Lee Sung Jin, Steven, and Ali were called upon to explain this, they pretty much disappeared and when they did eventually address it, it felt like an empty gesture, a perfunctory check-the-box move in the hopes perhaps that people would forget or be less mad over time. As I wrote at the time, back in April, moves like only ensure that “the culture will make a point of remembering… alllll the way up to the Emmy nominations”.

So it’ll be interesting to see what happens when and if Beef comes up today. The David Choe controversy meant that Lee Sung Jin, Steven Yeun, and Ali Wong kept a very low public profile during the campaign nomination period. Will that also be the case if they actually do secure nominations? Beef is the most well-reviewed series in the Limited or Anthology category. If not for Choe stain, it would be the frontrunner. Campaigning could improve their chances… and it could be an opportunity for them to finally engage in a meaningful conversation about David Choe. After all, as I’ve said before, Beef is about anger, bad decisions, confronting the ugliest parts of yourself, and finding community and a way forward. You can only do that through dialogue.

Then again, never mind Beef, there’s a world in which nobody will be campaigning for anything because of the possible strike. The deadline is looming. SAG-AFTRA yesterday agreed to work with a federal mediation agency at the suggestion of the producers but declined to extend talks beyond the end of today.

The union also released a statement:

“We will not be distracted from negotiating in good faith to secure a fair and just deal by the expiration of our agreement.” It added, “We are committed to the negotiating process and will explore and exhaust every possible opportunity to make a deal, however we are not confident that the employers have any intention of bargaining toward an agreement.”

That…doesn’t sound promising. And if there’s no deal reached, the Emmys might not happen at all.

Yours in gossip,

Lainey

Ali Wong Gossip

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