4th Annual AHS Awards Nominations

The fourth annual AHS Awards returns to spotlight the best and brightest of people of color in film, television, and new media. Nominees are selected by A Hot Set staff and divided into 31 categories. Actors Angela Bassett and Michele Val Jean will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Roundup

Frankenstein, Materialists, and Sinners led the film category with four nominations each. Directed by Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein is the latest retelling of the classic 1818 Mary Shelley novel about Baron Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac), who is determined to create life from the dead. In Celine Song’s second AHS Awards appearance, her film Materialists, a high-end matchmaker’s professional (Dakota Johnson) life becomes complicated when she gets caught in a tense, sophisticated love triangle between a wealthy businessman (Pedro Pascal) and a struggling actor from her past (Chris Evans). Ryan Coogler’s Sinners features Michael B. Jordan in a dual role, following twin brothers who return to their Southern hometown to start over, only to encounter an even greater evil that has been hunting them.

For scripted television, in the drama series categories, the CBS police procedural FBI leads the pack with four nominations, followed by HBO anthology series The White Lotus with three nominations. In the comedy categories, the ABC schoolhouse comedy series Abbott Elementary makes its fourth appearance, with an impressive and groundbreaking six nominations. Making Abbott Elementary the first scripted television series to be nominated in all four awards ceremonies. In addition, with two new acting categories for soaps/telenovelas, the first soap opera to debut since Passions (1999) and the second soap since the short-lived Generations (1989-1991) to ever feature a predominantly Black cast, Beyond the Gates leads with six nominations, along with the returning contender, the gritty United Kingdom soap EastEnders, which has three nominations. 

This year’s unscripted television categories continue to showcase the ever-changing landscape for talk shows in the age of content creators, with Steve Bartlett’s YouTube digital interview series Diary of A CEO garnering two nominations alongside fellow digital hosts: Keke Palmer (This is Keke Palmer, Baby) and Hasan Minhaj (Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know). They will compete with television syndicated mainstays Jennifer Hudson (Jennifer Hudson Show) and Sherri Sheppard (Sherri) in the talk show categories. 

In the unscripted news categories, digital YouTube political news and commentary with two nominations, Breaking Points returns and goes up against fellow double nominees, the political news and commentary series Rising, and the financial market programs Bloomberg Markets: Asia and Bloomberg Markets: China Open.

To complete the unscripted categories, Steve Harvey’s game show Family Feud and RuPaul’s competitive series RuPaul’s Drag Race have been double nominees for every AHS Awards. They will compete against fellow double-nominee game shows, Keke Palmer’s Password, and Wayne Brady’s Let’s Make A Deal, and competitive series America's Funniest Home Videos, America's Got Talent, and The Masked Singer make their triumphant return.

In the media categories, five nominees, ranging from fashion insider Odunayo Ojo (Fashion Roadman) and true crime commentator Stephanie Soo, represent the spectrum of content creators, and ARC Raiders and Hades II represent the spectrum of video games.

AHS’ Akira Kurosawa and Ethel Waters Lifetime Achievement Awards will honor two POCs within the film and television industry for their work and influence in front of and behind the camera. Last year’s awards were given to Samuel L. Jackson (film) and Michele Val Jean (television) for their award-winning careers spanning decades. This year, the AHS staff has awarded the Akira Kurosawa Lifetime Achievement Award to Angela Bassett. Starting her career on the stage and in television and then taking on small roles in films in John Singleton's Boyz n the Hood and John Sayles’ City of Hope, she got her big break playing famed singer Tina Turner in the biopic What’s Love Got to Do With It. The Ethel Waters Lifetime Achievement Award is being given to veteran soap writer and producer Michele Val Jean this year, whose career in television spanned writing for multiple soaps and culminated with the debut of her own soap opera, Beyond The Gates, debuting in 2025 on CBS. Becoming the first African American and first person of color to create a daytime drama, serving as creator, showrunner, and co-executive producer.

Winners will be announced in April 2026 via the A Hot Set platform.

Special Note: Categories with more than five nominations resulted in a tie during the prenomination process.

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FILM

Liu Haoran - dead to rights (China Film Group/Omnijoi Media Corporation)

BEST ANIMATED FILM

• KPop Demon Hunters

• Zootopia 2 

• Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle

• Mononoke the Movie: The Ashes of Rage

• Rose of Versailles

BEST DOCUMENTARY

• Aisha's Story 

• The Battle for Banglades

• Children of Captain Africa 

• The Eyes of Ghana

• Selena y Los Dino

• With Hasan in Gaza

BEST STANDUP COMEDY SPECIAL

• Father (Atsuko Okatsuka)

• Joke Telling Business (Earthquake) 

• The Unstoppable… (Dave Chappelle)

• What Species Are You? (Jiaoying Summers)

• Wild World (Mo Amer)

BEST SHORT FILM

• Blond Night

• Death is a Soft Limit:

• Primetime Mother

• Through the Storm

• Shé (Snake)

• Sheep and Wolves

BEST LEADING ACTRESS

• Ayo Edebiri, Opus

• Cynthia Erivo, Wicked: For Good

• Jennifer Lopez, Kiss of the Spider Woman 

• Keke Palmer, One of Them Days 

• Zoe Saldana, Avatar: Fire and Ash

• Tessa Thompson, Hedda

BEST FILM

• Sinner

• Frankenstein

• Wicked: For Good

• Left-Handed Girl

• Materialists

BEST FOREIGN FILM

• Dead to Rights (China)

• Left-Handed Girl (China)

• No Other Choice (South Korea)

• The Secret Agent (Brazil)

• The Voice of Hind Rajab (Tunisia/France)

BEST SCREENPLAY

• Ryan Coogler, Sinners 

• Syreeta Singleton, One of Them Days

• Celine Song, Materialists

• Guillermo Del Toro, Frankenstein

• Chloé Zhao, Hamnet

BEST DIRECTOR

• Jon M. Chu, Wicked: For Good

• Ryan Coogler, Sinners 

• Bong Joon-Ho, Mickey 17

• Celine Song, Materialists 

• Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein

• Chloe Zhao, Hamnet

BEST LEADING ACTOR

• Oscar Isaac, Frankenstein 

• Dwayne Johnson, The Smashing Machine

• Michael B. Jordan, Sinners 

• Diego Luna, Kiss of the Spider Woman

• Jonathan Majors, Magazine Dreams 

• Pedro Pascal, Materialists

• Denzel Washington, Highest 2 Lowest

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Television - Scripted

Balvinder Sopal - Kieron McCarron/Jack Barnes/BBC

BEST TV SERIES - COMEDY

• Abbott Elementary 

• Ginny & Georgia

• Government Cheese

• Happy Place 

• The White Lotus

BEST ACTOR - COMEDY

• Pablo Castelblanco, Happy Place

• William Stanford Davis, Abbott Elementary

• Evan Ellison, Government Cheese

• Tayme Thapthimthong, The White Lotus

• Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary

BEST ACTRESS - COMEDY

• Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary

• Antonia Gentry, Ginny & Georgia

• Janelle James, Abbott Elementary

• Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary

• Natasha Rothwell, The White Lotus

BEST TV SERIES - DRAMA

• FBI

• Law & Order: Organized Crime

• The Morning Show

• Reasonable Doubt 

• Severance

BEST ACTOR - DRAMA

• David Ajala, Law & Order 

• Laz Alonso, The Boys

• Zach Cherry, Severance

• Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us

• Zeeko Zaki, FBI

BEST ACTRESS - DRAMA

• Nicole Beharie, The Morning Show

• Emayatzy Corinealdi, Reasonable Doubt

• Alana de la Garza, FBI

• Katherine Renee Kane, FBI

• Danielle Moné Truitt, Law & Order: Organized Crime

BEST TV SERIES - SOAP/TELENOVELA

• Beyond the Gates (United States)

• Coronation Street (United Kingdom)

• EastEnders (United Kingdom)

• Days of Our Lives (United States)

• General Hospital (United States)

BEST ACTOR - SOAP/TELENOVELA

• Al Calderon, Days of Our Lives

• Brandon Claybon, Beyond the Gates

• Timon Kyle Durrett, Beyond the Gates

• Sean Freeman, Beyond the Gates

• Aaron Thiara, EastEnders

BEST ACTRESS - SOAP/TELENOVELA

• Brook Kerr, General Hospital

• Karla Mosley, Beyond the Gates

• Colby Muhammad, Beyond the Gates

• Balvinder Sopal, EastEnders

• Lisa Yamada, The Bold and the Beautiful

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Television - Unscripted

Steven Barlett - youtube

BEST TV SERIES - NEWS PROGRAM 

• Breaking Points

• Bloomberg Markets: Asia 

• Bloomberg Markets: China Open 

• CNN NewsNight

• Rising

BEST NEWS ANCHOR 

• David Ingles, Yvonne Man, Rishaad Salamat, and Haslinda Amin, Bloomberg Markets: Asia

• Saagar Enjeti and Krystal Ball, Breaking Points

• Lindsey Granger and Robby Soave, Rising 

• Abby Phillip, CNN NewsNight

• Rishaad Salamat, Yvonne Man, and David Ingles, Bloomberg Markets: China Open

BEST COMPETITIVE SERIES

• America's Funniest Home Videos

• America's Got Talent

• The Masked Singer

• Next Gen Chef 

• Physical Asia

BEST COMPETITIVE SERIES HOST/JUDGES

• Nick Cannon, Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, Rita Ora, Robin Thicke, The Masked Singer

• RuPaul Charles, RuPaul's Drag Race

• Terry Crews, Simone Cowell, Sofía Vergara, & Heidi Klum, America’s Got Talent

• Alfonso Ribeiro, America's Funniest Home Videos

• Alfonso Ribeiro, Bruno Tonioli, Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, Dancing With The Stars

BEST TV SERIES - TALK SHOW

• Baby, This is Keke Palmer

• The Diary of a CEO

• Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know

• Jennifer Hudson Show

• Sherri

BEST TALK SHOW HOST 

• Steven Barlett, The Diary of a CEO

• Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Hudson Show

• Keke Palmer, Baby, This is Keke Palmer

• Hasan Minhaj, Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know

• Sherri Sheppard, Sherri

BEST TV SERIES - GAME SHOW

• Family Feud

• Let’s Make A Deal

• Mastermind

• Password

• Scrabble

BEST GAME SHOW HOST

• Wayne Brady, Let’s Make A Deal

• Steve Harvey, Family Feud

• Clive Myrie, Mastermind

• Keke Palmer, Password

• Raven-Symoné, Scrabble

BEST TV SERIES - DOCUSERIES

• American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson

• Asian Boss

• Sean Combs: The Reckoning 

• SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night

• The Roshans

BEST TV SERIES - DOCUSOAP

• House of Villains

• Love Is Blind

• Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

• Real Housewives of Potomac 

• Real Housewives of Salt Lake City

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Media

crafty chica - youtube

BEST VIDEO GAME

• ARC Raiders

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 3

• Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition

• Elden Ring: Nightreign

• Mictlan: An Ancient Mythical Tale

• South of Midnight

BEST CONTENT CREATOR

• Crafty Chica

• Brent Rivera

• Fashion Roadman 

• iShowSpeed

• Richie Le

• Stephanie Soo

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

• Akira Kurosawa Film Award: Angela Bassett

• Ethel Waters TV Award: Michele Val Jean