Gordon Cormier, Agnez Mo, Rupi Kaur, Elodie Yung, Bianca Bustamante, Alex and Maia Shibutani share how they honor their heritage all year-round
Asian American, Pacific Islander and global Asian artists and leaders dressed their best for the 2024 Gold Gala this past weekend.
Hosted at The Music Center in downtown Los Angeles, leaders across entertainment, media, business, sports, community and more gathered for the third annual event. The evening celebrated Gold House’s 2024 A100 List to honor the 100 most impactful Asian Pacific changemakers in culture and society in the last year.
Cold Tea Collective covered the event from the beginning to end, from the Gold Carpet to the gala itself, speaking to guests about honoring our heritage this month and beyond.
Gold House A100 List of impactful Asian Pacific change-makers in culture and society take stage at third annual Gold Gala
Lucy Liu received the Gold Legend honor from long-time friend and Academy Award-winning actress Regina King and gave a heartfelt speech about her journey in the entertainment industry.
“When I started over 30 years ago, there weren’t a lot of choices I could make for myself. That is difficult when you’re starting out. There are a lot of decisions that one makes because of the limitations. I love that we are all here tonight because there is no ceiling. I’ve never seen that for myself. And I want us to all collectively understand how special this moment is that we are here together as a community. I share this award with you because you have lifted me up. You have given me strength. You have made me so proud,” said Liu.
“I feel like it’s been very lonely and I wish so much that there was more encouragement from my family because just a little bit goes so long in where you’re going in your journey. I was so privileged to have my manager who believed in me and has been steadfast when I didn’t think that I could do it. It’s hard when you’re the first person in the room that is the only person that is different. And we are here now and we are collectively special because of that. I said no to the award originally because I felt like it was probably childhood trauma – because you didn’t earn it, because you didn’t deserve it. But I am here because of this community. Thank you so much for this,” Liu said as the crowd cheered.
Academy Award-winning filmmakers Daniel Kwan and Jonathan Wang presented the “Gold Icon” award to the creator and cast of Beef: Lee Sung Jin, Steven Yeun, and Joseph Lee.
Avatar, The Last Airbender’s: Gordon Cormier, Dallas Liu, Ian Ousley, and Elizabeth Yu presented content creator and streamer Valkyrae an award in gaming and sports, who, like many other award winners, shared an emotional speech.
Maui First Responders representatives Jay Fujita and Kawika Casco, were honored by Auli’i Cravalho (actor and producer), Maia Kealoha (actor) and Krystal Ka‘ai ( White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders executive director) were commended for their courage. They were surprised with donations from Amazon and GoFundMe.org to support firefighters impacted by the devastating fires.
Olympic athlete and author Maia Shibutani describes the Gold Gala as “a night for us to converge, celebrate and think about the future, while also staying present.”
And with any good party, there was plenty of room for impromptu magic. From Hello Kitty taking over the gold carpet, to Manny Jacinto introducing a new trailer for Star Wars: The Acolyte, to Saweetie’s excitement over seeing Maitreyi Ramakrishnan in the audience, it was a night to remember.
See highlights below for our Gold Gala coverage and stay tuned for more content on Instagram and YouTube.
Honoring our heritage while transcending borders
In a digital world, industries and borders are being transcended by the next generation of the Asian diaspora. We spoke with Rupi Kaur, Agnez Mo, Elodie Yung and Ok Taecyeon about their heritage.
Rupi Kaur, a celebrated Punjabi Canadian poet and illustrator, recognizes that events and communities such as the Gold Gala didn’t exist growing up and is excited to see where things will be even five years from now.
Fans of Kaur’s work often describe her poetry as accessible. “People don’t realize poetry in Punjabi is so accessible,” says Kaur. “My grandparents couldn’t read or write, but they had poetry because it was an oral tradition accessible to all, no matter what class you were. I want to educate the world more on that.”
Indonesian singer-songwriter, dancer and actor Agnez Mo shared her pride in the richness of Indonesian music culture, from percussion, traditional dance, jewelry, to the thousands of diverse islands in Indonesia.
She also honors her heritage with a tattoo on her left shoulder: “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika means unity and diversity; it is our main principle,” shares Mo. “I get to live that everyday back when I still lived in Indonesia and now I get to celebrate it here.”
Elodie Yung, star of The Cleaning Lady, which confirmed a fourth season, shared “I’m excited to be an actor of Cambodian descent, to talk about my culture and portray a character with the same roots as I do. It feels like it’s the right time to push those narratives.”
When it comes to media that reflect Cambodian stories, Yung hopes to see more stories like her own. “I have a story about my dad and I, which is about being an immigrant going back to your country of origin; that’s also something that can be traumatic or can be beautiful.”
Moving forward with the next generation in mind
Guests and honorees at the 2024 Gold Gala shared their visions for the future while expressing pride in where they came from.
“I’m so proud of how much work we’ve been getting,” says 14-year-old Filipino Canadian actor Gordon Cormier. Cormier portrayed “Aang” in Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Having retired from professional figure skating in 2018, Alex Shibutani talks about what is next for him and his sister Maia. “On the ice, it was a performance for the audience. With our books, it’s for the next generation to tell stories that can bring our community together, but also connect to other communities as well,” he said.
“Being Filipino, we’ve been through a lot. Coming from where I did, I had to fight a lot for my sport. I had to fly to America, Europe, across the world and it took a lot of guts,” reveals 19-year-old Filipina racing driver Bianca Bustamante. “In motorsport, I learned to take everything one race and one lap at a time, that taught me the value of maximizing everything in life.”
For Bustamante, she emphasizes the importance of representation in her sport, especially for the next generation. “Why be the one and why not one of many? That’s why representation matters,” shared the F1 Academy driver. “I’ve been a dreamer my whole life and I work really hard to make it a reality. People just need to see and then they can believe.”
The future looks bright – maybe even golden.
Stay tuned for more coverage from the 2024 Gold Gala Gold Carpet on Instagram @coldteacollective.
