Barack Obama Makes History with Third Emmy Win

Former President Barack Obama has added another Emmy to his collection, making it three wins in total. He received the award for Outstanding Narrator at the Creative Arts Emmys for his narration work on Netflix’s natural history series Our Oceans.

Obama had previously won Emmys for two other Netflix projects. In 2022, he won for producing Our Great National Parks, a five-part wildlife documentary, and in 2023, he earned an award for Working: What We Do All Day, a four-part documentary series.

This year, he competed against other renowned narrators, including David Attenborough for Planet Earth: Asia, Idris Elba for Erased: WW2’s Heroes of Color, Tom Hanks for The Americas, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge for Octopus!.

While Obama is not the first U.S. president to receive an Emmy, President Dwight Eisenhower received the Governors Award in 1956, he is the first to win a competitive award for a specific television project.

Our Oceans, which premiered on November 20, 2024, takes viewers on a journey across the world’s five oceans, the Pacific, Indian, Atlantic, Arctic, and Southern. The five-part series explores marine life and highlights how human actions on land impact ocean ecosystems. Executive produced by James Honeyborne of Blue Planet II, the series is produced by Freeborne Media and Wild Space Productions.

Critics praised the series, noting both its beautiful cinematography and Obama’s calm, authoritative narration. Some reviews, such as from The Daily Beast, also highlighted the show’s light-hearted moments, which add charm while educating viewers about conservation.

Obama did not attend the award ceremony, but his recognition underscores the continued impact of his work in environmental storytelling.

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