For a first-time event, the Gold House Gala was a star-studded affair honoring its list of A100 inductees in Los Angeles, last Saturday night.
Since this is L.A., the center of the movie-making industry, the affair had all the glitter and glamor of a Hollywood premiere featuring some of the biggest names in media, entertainment, business and political worlds. Instead of the traditional red carpet, celebrities walked down a gold carpet showing off the creations of AAPI designers.
Since this is L.A., the center of the movie-making industry, the affair had all the glitter and glamor of a Hollywood premiere featuring some of the biggest names in media, entertainment, business and political worlds. Instead of the traditional red carpet, celebrities walked down a gold carpet showing off the creations of AAPI designers.
Although Gold House has been creating its list of the 100 for four years, this is the first time for the in-person Gold House Gala, after the nation has undergone two-years of pandemic-induced health restrictions which also saw a dramatic rise in anti-Asian attacks.
At the Gala with the theme of ushering in a New Gold Era for AANHPI communities, three Legends -- Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Yeoh and Mindy Kaling -- were honored for their lifelong dedication to advancing API excellence:
“I arrived here and saw the sea of amazing Asian beautiful faces and realized I’m not in Hong Kong, I’m not in Malaysia, I’m in freaking in Los Angeles, and we are celebrating each other,” Yeoh said as she was introduced by directors Jon M. Chu and Destin Daniel Cretton, and producer Jonathan Wang.
“I arrived here and saw the sea of amazing Asian beautiful faces and realized I’m not in Hong Kong, I’m not in Malaysia, I’m in freaking in Los Angeles, and we are celebrating each other,” Yeoh said as she was introduced by directors Jon M. Chu and Destin Daniel Cretton, and producer Jonathan Wang.
"We have so many stories to tell in our own way with our own voices. So I am so happy to see this. This is a long time coming," said Michelle Yeoh.
Yeoh, who stars in the recently released and critically acclaimed film, Everything, Everywhere All At Once, proved that she is as bold as some of the heroic roles that she has played.
“Science tells us women outlive men. But even with extra time, we have to get a lot more done,” Yeoh said in her acceptance speech for the SeeHer award at Gold House’s inaugural Gold Gala.
“If you try to have a baby after the age of 35, science tells us that is a geriatric pregnancy. While men are just starting their lives” – Yeoh paused to give a playful nod to the three men who introduced her, directors Jon M. Chu and Destin Daniel Cretton and producer Jonathan Wang – “women are already starting the geriatric part of their lives. Hardly seems fair, right? Get down on your knees, boys.”
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, one of the busiest actors in Hollywood, added: "Our differences are our greatest strengths, and recognizing representation in entertainment and amplifying the voices and contributions of our AAPI community is of the highest importance."I could not be more proud of my Black and Samoan heritage," Johnson continues, "and one of my greatest passions in life is enriching my daughters' lives with our people's history so they also understand the importance of our great ancestry and its meaning.
"Both cultures represent love, respect and power that ignites the universal feeling of family, our mana, and nodding to those who paved the road before us so that the 'rough places are made plain' and we can pursue our dreams today. Let us embrace, celebrate and illuminate the Asian American and Pacific Islanders, and all people of color, who contribute to making this country great today and every day," he said.
“I like to write about complex women and some people label complex women as ‘unlikable’ because it doesn’t align with their expectations of how a character on TV should be,” she said. “Audiences have gotten used to tired Asian stereotypes, and with that it can be disorienting.”
“You want the people to be presented with a young Indian female protagonist who is funny, unapologetic, ambitious and yes, sometimes angry.”
The outspoken and unapologetic Kaling vowed to continue improving representation for AANHPI actors and stories. “If I can be a leader of some of that change, that will be the honor of a lifetime. I’m still learning. I make mistakes, but once I know better, I do better,” she said.
LOOK & SEE: What the stars wore to the Gold Gala
A recent study found that the majority of Americans could not name a significant Asian American and Pacific Islander, not even the country's Vice President Kamala Harris.
Hoping to remedy the apparent invisibility of AANHPI, the Gold House list and gala honors the 100 Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders who have most significantly impacted American culture and society in the last year.
Besides the aforementioned "Legends," this year's A100 honorees are:
Activism, Advocacy, & Politics
- A1: Michelle Wu (Mayor of Boston)
- A1: Aftab Pureval (Mayor of Cincinnati)
- A1: Bruce Harrell (Mayor of Seattle)
- Ai-Jen Poo (Executive Director, National Domestic Workers Alliance)
- Alice Wong (Activist, Writer)
- Alliance for Asian American Justice
- Andy Kim (US Congressman)
- Chantale Y. Wong (US Ambassador and Executive Director to the Asian Development Bank)
- Lina Khan (FTC Chair)
- Maria Angelita Ressa (Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2021)
Business, Technology, & Innovation
- A1: Tony Xu (CEO & Co-Founder, DoorDash)
- Amrapali Gan (CEO, OnlyFans)
- Anne Raimondi (COO & Head of Business, Asana)
- Changpeng Zhao (CEO, Binance)
- David Chao (Co-Founder & General Partner, DCM)
- Edward Kim (Co-founder & CTO, Gusto)
- Emilie Choi (President & Chief Operating Officer, Coinbase)
- Eric J. Kim (Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Goodwater Capital)
- Hemant Taneja (Managing Partner, General Catalyst)
- Howie Liu (Co-Founder & CEO, Airtable)
- Ivan Zhao (CEO, Notion)
- Joe Lau and Nikil Viswanathan (Co-Founder & CTO and Co-Founder & CEO, Alchemy)
- Mak Azadi (COO, Discord)
- Margaret Vo Schaus (Chief Financial Officer, NASA)
- Matthew Huang (Crypto Investor, Paradigm)
- Michael Chae (Chief Financial Officer, Blackstone)
- Musa Tariq (Chief Marketing Officer, GoFundMe)
- Parag Agrawal (CEO, Twitter)
- Patrick Chun (Founder & Managing Partner, Juxtapose)
- Roham Gharegozlou (Co-founder & CEO, Dapper Labs)
- Rohan Seth (Co-founder and CTO, Clubhouse)
- Sam Yam (Co-Founder & CTO, Patreon)
- Shou Zi Chew (CEO, TikTok)
- Susie Nam (CEO of the Americas, Droga5)
- Teddy Park (CEO, The Black Label)
- Tim Chen (Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, NerdWallet)
- Todd Park (Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, Devoted Health)
Entertainment
- A1: Simu Liu (Actor & Writer)
- Ashley Park (Tony and Grammy Nominated Actor)
- Bella Poarch (Musician)
- Bowen Yang (Actor & Comedian)
- Bridgerton (Season 2) Stars (Simone Ashley & Charithra Chandran)
- Chloé Zhao (Director)
- Daniel Wu (Actor, Producer, Race Car Driver)
- Destin Daniel Cretton (Director)
- Domee Shi (Director)
- Hailee Steinfeld (Actress, Singer, Producer)
- Jason Momoa (Actor)
- Ji-Young and Kathleen Kim (Muppet and Puppeteer, Sesame Street)
- Jimmy O. Yang (Actor, Comedian, Writer, Producer)
- Jo Koy (Comedian & Actor)
- Kumail Nanjiani (Actor)
- LISA (Musician)
- Marian Lee (Chief Marketing Officer, Netflix)
- Mary Margaret (Tech and Media Executive)
- Never Have I Ever Stars (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Richa Moorjani, Poorna Jagannathan)
- NIKI (Singer-Songwriter)
- Olivia Rodrigo (Singer-Songwriter)
- Pachinko Creators (Soo Hugh, Justin Chon, Kogonada, Theresa Kang-Lowe) and Stars (Min-Ha Kim, Lee Min Ho, Jin Ha)
- Puja Patel (Editor-in-Chief, Pitchfork)
- Ramsey Naito (President, Paramount Animation & Nickelodeon Animation)
- Riz Ahmed (Actor, Writer, Producer, Musician & Activist)
- Ronny Chieng (Comedian, Actor, and Writer)
- Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Director)
- Sean Miyashiro & Derek Hsu (CEO and President, 88Rising)
- Silk Sonic (Musicians)
- Squid Games Creator (Hwang Dong-Hyuk) and Stars (Lee Jung-jae, Hoyeon, Oh Yeong-su, Park Hae-soo)
- Taika Waititi (Academy Award®-winning Writer, Director, and Actor)
- Tan France (Television Star and Style Expert)
- Youn Yuh-jung (Actress)
Lifestyle
- A1: Payal Kadakia (ClassPass Founder, Artist, and Author of LifePass)
- Bretman Rock (Digital Superstar)
- Chella Man (Artist)
- Emma Broyles (Miss America 2022)
- Jay Shetty (NYT Best-Selling Author, Podcaster, Purpose Coach, Entrepreneur)
- Kelly Huang (Founder, KCH Advisory)
- Leena Nair (CEO, Chanel)
- Michelle Zauner (Author, Musician)
- Min Jin Lee (Author)
- Nathaniel Ru (Co-Founder and Chief Brand Officer, Sweetgreen)
- Rachell "Rae" Hofstetter (Content Creator & Streamer)
- Rupi Kaur (Poet)
- Roy Choi (Chef)
- Sofia Chang (CEO, Girl Scouts of the USA)
- Sarah Burke (Editor-in-Chief, Them)
- Versha Rani Sharma (Editor-in-Chief, Teen Vogue)
- Will Lee (COO, NPR)
- Yoon Ahn (Founder & Designer, Ambush)
Sports
- A1: Chloe Kim (Olympic Gold Medalist, Half-Pipe)
- Carissa Moore (Olympic Gold Medalist, Surfing)
- Collin Morikawa (Professional Golfer)
- Emma Raducanu (U.S. Open Tennis Champion)
- Jalen Green (Shooting Guard, Houston Rockets)
- Jordan Clarkson (Shooting Guard / Point Guard, Utah Jazz)
- Justine Wong-Orantes (Olympic Gold Medalist, Volleyball)
- Lee Kiefer (Olympic Gold Medalist, Individual Foil)
- Mina Mugil Kimes (NFL Analyst)
- Shohei Ohtani (Designated Hitter and Pitcher, Los Angeles Angels)
- Sunisa Lee (Olympic Gold Medalist)
- Taylor Rapp (Safety, Los Angeles Rams)
- Xander Schauffele (Olympic Gold Medalist, Individual Golf)
EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.
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