Emmy nominations: White Lotus, Euphoria and SNL stars among LGBTQ+ nods

Jul 13 2022
Written by Amelia Hansford

Jennifer Coolidge and Looking’s Murray Bartlett star in The White Lotus. (YouTube)

The 2022 Emmy Awards nominations are in, with queer talent and LGBTQ+ stories are up a number top awards.

The Television Academy announced the 2022 Emmy nominees on Tuesday (12 July) in a virtual ceremony hosted by Melissa Fumero and JB Smoove.

HBO’s Succession was top dog for nomination count this year, with 25 nods. Ted Lasso and The White Lotus were not too far behind, with 20 nominations each.

The White Lotus was also the top-nominated show in a single category, with five nods in the Supporting Actress in a Limited Series category – including the icon, Jennifer Coolidge. Murray Bartlett is up for Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.

Other queer actors nominated include Sarah Paulson, for Impeachment, Kate McKinnon and Bowen Yang for Saturday Night Live, and Jane Lynch for Only Murders in the Building

Squid Game garnered 14 nominations, becoming the first non-English language series nominated for Best Drama.

Four out of the six nominees for Best Actress in a Drama are for queer roles, including Reese Witherspoon in The Morning Show, Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh in Killing Eve, and Zendaya in Euphoria.

Zendaya also became the youngest-ever nominee for Outstanding Drama Series, as a producer for Euphoria. She is also the youngest two-time acting nominee, having won Best Actress in a Drama in 2020.

The star addressed the nomination in an Instagram post, thanking everyone “who connected with our show,” as well as several other producers and creators for helping make the show a reality.

“Making this show with this cast and crew of the most incredibly talented people that I get the privilege of learning from every day has been a highlight of my life,” she said. “I’m so proud to work beside you and CONGRATULATIONS! I don’t have the words to express the love and gratitude I feel right now.”

Other nominations from the show include Sydney Sweeney for Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Martha Kelly for Guest Actress in a Drama Series, and gay actor Colman Domingo for Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

Meanwhile, the comedy world is embracing its queerness with several nominations in comedy categories, including Hannah Einbinder in Supporting Actress in a Comedy for her role as the bisexual writer Ava in Hacks, queer comic Kate McKinnon in the same category for Saturday Night Live, and directors Jamie Babbit and Cherien Dabis, who directed Only Murders in the Building, nominated for Best Directing for a Comedy Series.

Iconic reality show RuPaul’s Drag Race received its sixth Outstanding Competition Program nomination in a row. RuPaul is up for Best Reality Host, with the franchise racking up 11 nods in total.

The 74th annual Emmy Awards is to be broadcast live on 12 September from 8 pm ET to 12 am ET. Viewers can tune in on NBC or livestream the ceremony on Peacock. Other international broadcast channels have yet to be confirmed.

US actress Zendaya arrives for TIME 100 Gala at Lincoln Center in New York, June 8, 2022. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)