As YouTube continues to grow, it’s also making big inroads into Primetime Emmy coverage. Below, Variety highlights some of the most notable creators driving global buzz this FYC season.
Brittany Brosky
variety series
Before she became Lady Brittany of the Broskis, she was a banker in Texas who posted videos on TikTok to make her friends laugh. In August 2019, a 21-second clip of Brosky trying kombucha for the first time racked up over 40 million views, making her one of the defining memes of the decade.
What followed was a steady and spontaneous expansion from meme to media personality. She launched “The Broski Report” in May 2023 and debuted “Royal Court” on YouTube two months later. In each episode, Brosky conducts a series of tests on celebrity guests to determine whether they are worthy of the title of “knight” to her small council. Those tests include answering questions under sudden, bright interrogation lights (lights that are sure to catch guests off guard) and sketching a person’s family crest during a conversation. Guests include charlie xcx, hannah einbinder, and harry styles.
The channel has more than 1 million subscribers and the show was entirely self-financed by Broski and filmed at OBB Studios in West Hollywood. The one-woman operation continues to garner A-list loyalty.
Kareem Rahma
Short comedies, dramas, and variety series
The premise of Rama’s “Subway Takes” is almost insultingly simple. Comedian and media personality Rama steps onto a New York City subway, holds up a microphone clipped to a MetroCard and asks strangers (and occasionally celebrities) one question. “So, what’s your opinion?” What they say next, and how much Rahma agrees or disagrees with it, is the whole show.
Launched almost on a whim with co-founder Andrew Kuo in 2023, Subway Takes has become one of the brightest formats on the internet, with YouTube subscribers nearing 1 million. Guests range from ordinary commuters to celebrities like Cate Blanchett and Julian Casablancas, all exposed to the same fluorescent lights and creaky subway sounds. The beauty of this format is its simplicity. His booking bar is similarly unfiltered. Is he having fun? If yes, success.
In his other series, “Keep the Meter Running,” Rama’s mode of transportation changes as he travels through New York with a taxi driver, turning the backseat into a lengthy interview. Together, the two shows made Rama the guru of urban interviews, capturing things inside moving vehicles that most late-night sets wouldn’t be able to do.
michelle carre
Host a nonfiction series or special program
Khare just might be the Tom Cruise of YouTube. She performs all her own stunts and in 2025 became the second person to successfully lift Cruise’s infamous “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” plane, documenting the entire process in an episode of her YouTube series “Challenge Accept,” where Kahle is seen training alongside elite experts to accomplish extreme challenges. She has documented everything from FBI simulations to Olympic-level athletic training for her 5.4 million subscribers. He recently embarked on his biggest challenge yet, competing in the Great World Race, running seven marathons across seven continents in seven days.
The Dartmouth College graduate cut her teeth as a video producer at BuzzFeed in the mid-2010s, directing, editing, and starring in hundreds of videos. She is a former collegiate national champion cyclist and professional competitor, and her experiences traveling all over the United States to race while working for a company served as the inspiration for Challenge Accepted.
Khare has been working full-time on YouTube for 10 years and has proven that he has an important place for himself in entertainment.
“YouTube Daredevil.”
Cleo Abram
short nonfiction or reality series
Abram is huge. On Instagram and TikTok alone, the video journalist has amassed more than 5 million followers. She boasts 7.8 million subscribers on YouTube and has skyrocketed in popularity thanks to her optimistic science and technology commentary web show.
“It would be amazing if it was true*”
Described as “an antidote to doom and gloom,” Abram’s content is defined by her signature high-energy personality. In each episode of the series, she goes above and beyond the surface of the innovations that will shape the future, from Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robots to NASA’s supersonic airplanes to IBM’s quantum computers. Since she started the series in 2022, she has spoken with some of the biggest names in science and technology, including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, ChatGPT’s Sam Altman, “Project Hail Mary” author Andy Weir, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, and NASA engineer Mark Roeber. Before Abram took his talents to social media, he worked as a video producer at Vox, where he hosted the daily show “Answered.” Additionally, she directed Netflix’s “Explained” and co-hosted the YouTube original show “Glad You Asked.”
Sean Evans
variety series
Sitting in the hot seat has taken on a whole new meaning thanks to Evans, co-creator and host of “Hot Ones.” Launched with co-creator Chris Schonberger as a unique take on the classic celebrity interview, “Hot Ones” invites guests onto their YouTube show to eat 10 chicken wings cooked in increasingly spicy hot sauce.
As the wings become more intense and the Scoville scale increases, so does the buzz. Questions range from casual and conversational to well-researched and deeply personal. Celebrities tend to promote their upcoming projects, but at heart the show is about light-hearted conversation inspired by viral memes and GIFs. Tears, flushed cheeks, and glasses of milk are all guest stars on this show that has hosted hundreds of celebrities. And for those who couldn’t finish the assortment? Welcome to the Hall of Shame!
Julian Shapiro Burnham
short nonfiction or reality series
There is no faster way to show humility than with a child or a classroom full of children. Shapiro-Burnham’s “Celebrity Substitutes” invites stars to serve as substitute teachers in real classrooms in New York City public schools. With a BA in theater and a background in sketch comedy, Shapiro-Burnham has the ability to craft humorous and pertinent questions, setting the scene for famous guests to be lovingly unraveled by children. Recent notable episodes include A$AP Rocky teaching kids to rap, Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff coaching kids in a talent show, and Gigi Hadid advising her class on how to unleash their inner confidence.
Shapiro-Burnham first rose to fame with her viral YouTube series “Recess Therapy,” built on quick, candid interviews with elementary school students during recess. Many of his younger subjects became fan favorites, and the series attracted more than 1 million subscribers and set the stage for Shapiro-Burnham’s expansion. The fast-paced environment of “Celebrity Substitute” combined with the unfiltered, brutal honesty of an elementary school student often creates some of the most unique celebrity interviews. After all, who else would have asked Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, “Why are you so important?” Malala Yousafzai, 28, responded: “Oh my god, I think I’m in an existential crisis right now.”
Genie Winnie
short nonfiction or reality series
Sandra Jeannie Kwon, better known as Jeannie Winnie, has no plans to step down from the skies. Kwon, a former flight attendant, became popular for her comedy skits on what she calls “Genie Air.” Our content creators draw inspiration from their previous experiences in the industry and unforgettable passenger encounters. Viewers often also get inside information and behind-the-scenes secrets that they can put into practice on their next flight. Cabin Pressure, a YouTube series written by Kwon, in which she often plays multiple roles, continues the aerial theme, depicting the misadventures of an eccentric flight attendant and her plucky passengers as they fight for survival while trapped on a plane at 30,000 feet.
