AAPI wins were “goin’ up, up, up,” at the 83rd annual Golden Globes held at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles on Sunday evening. This year’s Golden Globes wasn’t just a big win for the AAPI community, but shined a much deserved spotlight upon AAPI women. Here’s a look at the esteemed wins.
For the Original Song – Motion Picture award, Kpop Demon Hunters wins with “Golden.” The uplifting song has had an undeniable impact on pop culture with an earworm of a chorus that you can’t help but sing along to.
The award, presented by Joe Keery and Charli XCX, was accepted by singer/songwriter Ejae along with fellow songwriters Mark Sonnenblick and Lee Hee-joon. The song made waves in the summer of 2025 cinching the number one spot on Billboard 100 weeks after it had dropped. The other track on the soundtrack, “Your Idol,” notably made number eight on the charts as well.
Ejae delivered an emotional acceptance speech. She says tearfully, “As a little girl, I worked tirelessly for ten years to fulfill one dream: to become a Kpop idol.” She then speaks on not making it as an idol and leaning on songs and music to eventually lead to this big win. She ends her acceptance speech dedicating the award to people, “who have had doors closed on them and that I can confidently say rejection is redirection.” Her speech is a prime exemplification of tenacity and never giving up after setbacks.
For the Motion Picture – Animated award, presented by Keegan-Michael Key and Mila Kunis, Kpop Demon Hunters wins again. The award was accepted by directors Chloe Kang and Chris Appelhans along with producer Michelle Wong.
The Sony Pictures animation film made history as the most watched original film on Netflix with over 500 million views, with 236 million of those views in the first two weeks. Its impact on popular culture was solidified with the characters being the top selling costumes for youth last Halloween.
Kang emotionally states in her acceptance speech, “We really wanted to depict female characters the way that we know women which is really strong and bold, really silly and weird, and really hungry for food.” Applehans poignantly adds on to how the film “has the power to connect us to see a shared humanity, which we could use in the world these days.”
Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet also secures two awards at the Golden Globes this year with Jessie Buckley winning for Female Actor – Motion Picture Drama and Motion Picture – Drama.
The film is an adaptation of the Maggie O’Farrell novel cowritten by O’Farrell and Zhao that is a dramatization of the family life of William Shakespeare, his wife Agnes Hathaway and the aftermath of the death of their 11-year-old son Hamnet. This death is said to be based on the famous Shakespeare play, Hamlet.
The award was accepted by producer Steven Spielberg and Chloe Zhao. Spielberg starts off the acceptance speech saying that after reading the novel of Hamnet, there was only one filmmaker on the face of the planet that could tell this story, the exceptional Chloe Zhao.
Zhao delivers a powerful speech starting off with thanking the village that helped create Hamnet along with the recent losses they have experienced and still continue to experience. She speaks on the necessity of vulnerability in the act of creation and life itself. Her speech attests to the power of self acceptance, and how embracing our own flaws can lead others to do the same. She ends her speech giving a shoutout to fellow filmmaker Ryan Coogler where she shared a sweet anecdote of teaching him how to start a fire in his room during Sundance Labs. The mutual respect the two have was palpable and attests to the importance of artists uplifting each other.
