Well, it happened again.
For months, YouTube has lobbied on behalf of its biggest stars, arguing that standouts like Michelle Khare, Sean Evans, and Rhett & Link deserve nominations at the Emmy Awards. It’s not the first time YouTube has submitted hit channels for Emmy consideration, but the latest campaign ended up with the same result as previous pushes: YouTubers got shut out of the Emmys once more.
Khare’s show Challenge Accepted was vying for a nomination in the Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special category, but she missed out as Hollywood notables like Conan O’Brien, Stanley Tucci, and David Letterman earned nods. Rhett & Link failed to get Good Mythical Morning into the Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama, or Variety Series category, where the usual complement of web companions for unscripted TV shows took up all the available spots.
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In the Outstanding Talk Show category, where the Evans-hosted Hot Ones hoped to earn recognition, the Television Academy didn’t even bother filling out a full complement of nominees. Three familiar late-night hosts — Kimmel, Colbert, and Stewart — are the only ones in the running.
All of this is so familiar. YouTubers have been trying to break into the Emmys for nearly a decade, but the TV Academy has made clear that it would rather fete traditional productions than take a chance on a popular creator-led show. That’s what happened in 2024, it happened again this year, and nothing short of voter upheaval will change the narrative in 2026.
Creators have been shunned so thoroughly from the Emmys that it’s worth asking a simple question: What’s the point? If the TV Academy is so hellbent on ignoring the cultural wellspring bubbling up on the internet, why not let it? What is the purpose of all the campaigning and stumping, not to mention the literal cost of these FYC pushes, only for the powers that be to decide they like The Daily Show: Desi Lydic Foxsplains more than the most beloved morning show on the internet?
Some of the creators who sought nominations would argue that Emmy consideration is powerful enough to open doors. Khare said that she hoped to use an Emmy nod to help book high-profile guests on Challenge Accepted, and there’s evidence to suggest that major award nominations give the honored entertainers more prestige (even if potential financial gains attributable to those noms are unclear).
From my vantage point, Khare doesn’t need the TV Academy’s help. She’s already prestigious enough to book collabs with YouTube’s biggest stars, and Challenge Accepted episodes featuring the likes of Wendover Productions and GothamChess seem to perform just as well as any other installment of the show. The list of the most-watched Hot Ones videos shows that Evans and his producers have no trouble booking Hollywood big shots.
Sure, creators may need Emmys if they want to gain the respect of entertainment industry power players, but YouTube is already supplanting Hollywood. That’s why so many creators are becoming feature film directors, and a few others are becoming the biggest things on streaming. Hollywood needs creators, not the other way around — so why are the creators the ones pining for awards season recognition?
Truthfully, the Emmys push for creators is mainly a YouTube thing. CEO Neal Mohan wants creators to win Emmys because that would solidify the narrative that YouTubers are the future of entertainment, thus bringing more media dollars to the platform’s shores. But again — even without any significant Emmys cred to speak of, YouTube is still generating massive amounts of revenue. It’s getting more TV viewership than any cable network or streaming hub, and it’s outpacing traditional platforms in terms of ad spend, too.
The TV Academy has made its priorities clear: Creators who go from YouTube to traditional networks can win Emmys, and those who stay on YouTube cannot. That’s why Khare is still being shut out while her former BuzzFeed colleague Quinta Brunson hauls in Emmy wins for ABC’s Abbott Elementary (which is up for six more trophies this year).
If those are going to be the rules of engagement, creators need not play. The Michelle Khares and Sean Evanses of the world would make a stronger statement by giving the TV Academy the cold shoulder rather than seeking its validation. That attitude would be a confident reminder that voters with outdated ideas can’t stop creator-led fare from becoming the next big thing, no matter how many talk show companions they nominate.
