With over 650 guests in attendance, the Gold Gala has become one of the most-viewed celebrations of Asian Pacific culture in the media, featuring groundbreakers and leaders in fields across entertainment, fashion and technology.
This year's Gold Gala Honors are Charles Melton (Gold Artistic Achievement), Eileen Gu (Gold Impact), Jet Li (Gold Legend), Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Gold Vanguard), Revathi Advaithi (Forbes Gold) and Simu Liu (Gold Mogul).
Gold100 Onstage Honorees include Brett Blton and Jen Lee (Gold100 Sports & Gaming); EJAE (Gold 100 Entertainment & Media); Rei Matsunuma and Rehito Hatoyama (Gold 100 Fashion & Lifestyle), Tejasvi Manoj (Gold100 Social Impact) and Theresia Gouw (Gold100 Business & Technology).
On The Red Carpet attended the 2026 Gold Gala, and had the chance to speak with many stars about the occasion. Here's what they had to say!
Ming-Na Wen, who voiced Mulan in the original Disney movie from 1998, said the event "is a celebration of AAPI talent and entrepreneurs, and it is also an acknowledgement of all the hard work."
Actor Kal Penn echoed the same sentiment. "I stand on the shoulders of so many Asian American artists whose names were not household names, but if they hadn't broken barriers in their own right, I certainly wouldn't have had the opportunities that I had."
"You know, I've worked with Gold House for many years now. I'm on the board here, and they are part and parcel of the wave of progress that we've been able to make," Daniel Dae Kim explained.
The Gold Gala brings talent from all ages together, including the young live-action "Lilo & Stitch" star Maia Kealoha, who told us, "it feels so amazing being around all these inspirational people and people that I look up to."
Sydney Agudong, who plays her older sister, Nani, in the film said, "It's incredible. It's an honor. I mean, I'm honestly in shock that they were honoring us tonight, so I was very stoked."
"Kpop Demon Hunters" star EJAE told us that "seeing, you know, fellow Asian Americans or Asian artists here, it really brings a different energy."
And maybe that energy comes from the food! "The Boys" star Karen Fukuhara described the night as "a big night of celebration, good food, always good food, I feel like we know how to eat."
AAPI representation has come a long way, Tia Carrere reflected. "It's beautiful now to be in a place like this, where, not only is it accepted, we are elevated. We are elevating each other."
The event highlights the 2026 Gold100 List of the 100 most impactful Asian Pacific "culture makers." In addition, the event "celebrates cross-industry excellence through the nation's most-recognized Asian Pacific award-the Gold100-along with special multicultural Gold Gala awards."
This year's Gold Gala theme was "A New Gold World: a call to build shared abundance in an era increasingly defined by contraction."
Both "Mulan" (1998) and "Lilo & Stitch" is streaming now on Disney+.
The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of Walt Disney Studios, Disney+ and this ABC station.