Five Emmys go to 'Beef' and its stars Ali Wong, Steven Yeun

Director and writer Lee Sung Jin accepts an Emmy for the limited series 'Beef.'

Beef, the Netlifx series that destroyed the model minority stereotype for Asian Americans, won five Emmys including one for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, a first for a series with an Asian American storyline starring a mostly Asian American cast.

It was a really good night for Succession and The Bear but Asian Americans were cheering for Beef, which ended up winning five awards. In addition, it was awarded Emmys for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, and its lead protagonists, Ali Wong and Steven Yeun, won Emmys as Lead Actress and Actor Emmy for Outstanding Limited series.

Beef's creator Lee Sung Jin was awarded two Emmys for Directing and Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series.

"I wouldn't be standing here without my parents, my amazing parents, my mother and my father who I so wish was alive to share this moment with me," Wong said as she accepteed her Emmy, "My hilarious father who loved me unconditionally and taught me the value of failure."

        FYI: Complete list of Primetime Emmy Awards

"To my beautiful daughters, you are my everything and thank you for inspiring me," she added of her two young girls — Mari, 8, and Nikki, 6 — whom she shares custody with ex-husband Justin Hakuta. "This is for you."

With his award, Yeun has cemented his spot in Hollywood pantehon of great actors. Yeun, who broke out in The Walkind Dead TV series, previously earned widespread acclaim for his outings in Minari and Burning.

In his acceptance speech, he said that there were days when it became extremely difficult for him to "live in Danny's skin," and added that there were times when he wanted to judge him while on some occasions he wanted to make fun on him as well. Yeun then shared that Andrew Cooper, the on-set photographer of Beef, had once told him to "Never bail on Danny."

The actor went on to add, "I wanna thank Danny for teaching me that judgment and shame is a lonely place, but compassion and grace is where we can all meet."

Beef is a story of road rage between the characters of Wong an Yeun. Their anger, irrational feud and their evolution from protagonists to understnanding showed a side of Asian Americans that is rarely depicted in media where the model minority stereotype continues to dominate peoples' perceptions.

“Wow, thank you. You know, a lot of the suicidal ideation in this show was based on stuff that I and some of the folks up here have struggled with over the years,” said creator Jin after he called up the cast of Beef to share the stage with him. The A24 series is also nominated in both supporting actor categories with Joseph Lee, Young Mazino and Maria Bello..

“So I’m really grateful and humbled by everyone who watched the show and reached out about their own personal struggles," Jin continued. "It’s very life-affirming, so thank you.

“I feel like we live in a world designed to kind of keep us separate,” he continued. “Even here, some of us go home with trophies, other people don’t. I think for some of us when we live in a world like this, you begin to think there’s no way anyone can ever understand you or like you or much less no potential at being loved. So the greatest joy of working on ‘Beef’ has truly been working with the folks up here who loved so unconditionally. Thank you to them. To anyone out there who directly or indirectly was involved with the show, thank you so much.”

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