Barack Obama beats Tom Hanks to win his third Emmy

Posted On September 8, 2025September 8, 2025

Barack Obama has beat out a range of Hollywood stalwarts, including Tom Hanks, to win his third Emmy Award. 

The former US President won the prize for ‘Best Narrator’ at the 2025 Creative Arts Emmys, which took place on September 7th. He took home the award for his work on the Netflix natural history series Our Oceans, which he is the voice behind.

Obama faced a number of tough competitors in his category, such as Hanks for The Americas, David Attenborough for Planet Earth: Asia, Idris Elba for Erased: WW2’s Heroes of Color, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge for Octopus!.

The latest win marks the former president’s third win at the Emmys, after he previously took home prizes for two documentary series he has previously worked on for Netflix – Our Great National Parks in 2022 and Working: What We Do All Day in 2023.

Although Obama was not in attendance at the awards ceremony to receive his honour, it makes him one of only two US presidents to have ever won an Emmy, as Dwight Eisenhower was given the Governors Award during his time in office in 1956.

However, this means Obama is the only president to have competed in a category for a specific TV show at the awards. Our Oceans, which premiered on the streaming platform in November last year, explores the relationship between the world’s oceans and sea creatures and the destructive actions of humans on land.

Since leaving office in 2016, Obama has embarked on many cultural ventures, namely starting the production company Higher Ground Productions with his wife Michelle. Within this, they have a deal with Netflix where they have produced many series and films for the streamer, including the Oscar-nominated Rustin starring Colman Domingo.

The Creative Arts Emmys took place the weekend before the Primetime Emmys, which is set to happen on September 15th.

Related Topics