Emmys Snubs and Surprises: Emma Stone Snubbed, Selena Gomez Surprised!

Nominations for the 2024 Emmy Awards were announced today, and while the likes of Shōgun and The Bear did as well as pundits predicted — in fact, perhaps even better — there were still noms that took the industry by surprise. Hijack‘s Idris Elba, The Gilded Age‘s Carrie Coon, Reservation Dogs‘s D’Pharoah Woon-a-Tai, and the cast of Feud: Capote vs. the Swans all nabbed major nominations, despite being left off many awards show prognosticators’ lists. The oft-snubbed Selena Gomez finally was nominated for her work on the delightful Only Murders in the Building, while new shows like Fallout took advantage of the dearth of returning dramas in the 2023-2024 schedule.

Still, while the 2024 Emmys managed to reward the industry’s faves with 25 nominations for Shōgun, 23 for The Bear, and a slew more for the likes of The Morning Show, Abbott Elementary, Hacks, Only Murders in the Building, and The Crown, some beloved televisions shows and their stars were snubbed. Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey might have nabbed nominations for their performances in Showtime’s Fellow Travelers, but the show itself was robbed of a Limited Series nod. Another showy Showtime series, A24’s Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie dramedy The Curse, failed to get a single nomination — not even for leading lady Emma Stone. And while Apple TV+’s star-studded World War II limited series Masters of the Air showed up in the technical categories, it didn’t get any love in major categories.

From the likes of Emma Stone and Austin Butler being wholly ignored to Idris Elba and D’Pharoah Woon-a-Tai finally getting their flowers, here are the best surprises and worst snubs of the 2024 Emmys:

Best Emmys Surprises? Love For Faves Like Idris Elba, Walton Goggins, Carrie Coon, and Selena Gomez…

Fans of “Awards Season” know that there are simply some actors that will always be shoo-ins for nominations — your Jon Hamms, your Jennifer Anistons, your casts of The Crown — while others tend to get short shrift from their peers. This year, many of those fan faves actually found themselves feted by the Academy, though.

For years, we’ve watched Selena Gomez’s incredible performance opposite comedy legends Steve Martin and Martin Short in Only Murders in the Building get overlooked. Was it ageism against the youngest member of the Hulu’s show’s comic triumvirate? Did voters simply not get how much better Mabel made Charles and Oliver?? Well, Gomez finally squeezed into the highly competitive Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category alongside Quinta Brunson, Ayo Edebiri, Maya Rudolph, Jean Smart, and Kristen Wiig.

Because of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes last year — and the end of Succession —  there was a dearth of returning dramas in the 2023-2024 television season. Because of that, some really exciting performances managed to wiggle their way into the major categories. Hijack‘s Idris Elba and Fallout‘s Walton Goggins found themselves included in the Outstanding Drama Actor category for their beautiful work in shows that might have otherwise been snubbed because of their high octane action. Similarly, Carrie Coon and Christine Baranski were nominated for their outstanding work on The Gilded Age, HBO’s sudsy period drama that would usually be pushed aside for the premium cable network’s higher brow fare.

But maybe the sweetest surprise of Emmys morning was seeing Reservation Dogs‘s D’Pharoah Woon-a-Tai get a nomination in the Outstanding Lead Comedy Actor category. The offbeat FX comedy premiered its final season this year, just as it was finally generating some heat. While most Emmys experts tapped the sublime Devery Jacobs as the series’s best shot at a major acting nomination, she was snubbed. However, it’s hard to be upset when Woon-a-Tai managed to sneak in.

So besides Devery Jacobs, what other snubs are television fans fuming over after today’s Emmy nominations?

Biggest Emmys Snubs? Emma Stone and Everyone on The Curse, Masters of the Air, and More…

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of which Hollywood heavyweights were snubbed by this years Emmy voters, it has to be reiterated that the 2023-2024 TV season was a weird one. Besides the strikes, which crippled the entertainment industry for months and pushed last year’s Emmys to early 2024, there was a bizarre tidal wave of limited series on the major premium channels and streamers. That meant that the limited series categories were incredibly competitive and some major names were completely shut out for work that could have dominated the field any other year.

Apple TV+’s World War II limited series Masters of the Air was produced by the same team that brought us the monster hit Band of Brothers and critically-beloved The Pacific. While Masters of the Air scooped up a bunch of technical nominations, its ensemble cast — featuring the Oscar-nominated Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan alongside rising stars Callum Turner, Ncuti Gatwa, and Anthony Boyle — was completely shut out. Moreover, Masters of the Air failed to get an Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series nomination.

Other limited series that were shut out of the main category include Fellow Travelers and Feud: Capote vs. the Swans. These two omissions are surprising if only because their casts were feted with nominations in the acting categories. Both Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey were nominated for Fellow Travelers, suggesting that voters were in fact dazzled by the tragic love story. Similarly, Feud: Capote vs. the Swans earned nominations for many famous faces in its ensemble cast including Tom Hollander, Naomi Watts, Treat Williams, and Diane Lane.

However, the most snubbed show of the year has got to be Showtime’s The Curse. The series had the backing of A24, the creative vision of Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie, and the star power of Emma Stone behind it. Nevertheless, the genre-bending series failed to get a single Emmy nomination. Not even for Emma Stone! (You know, one of the only starlets working today with two Best Actress Oscars on her mantle.)

When the dust settles on the 2024 Emmy nominations, most of the industry’s heavy hitters will have a lot to be happy about. However, it should go without saying that if there’s one overall winner, it’s got to be the history-making FX. The top two most nominated series this year — Shogun and The Bear — were FX titles, while the network also reaped honors for the aforementioned Reservation Dogs and Feud: Capote vs. the Swans in addition to What We Do in the Shadows, Fargo, and Welcome to Wrexham.

On the opposite pole, however, has got to be Showtime. Sure, the stars of Fellow Travelers were nominated, but the series wasn’t. The Curse was completely shut out. And as if to add insult to injury, Netflix’s Ripley, which earned 13 nominations, was originally supposed to be a Showtime show.

The big lesson of the 2024 Emmys? Do whatever it is FX is doing.