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Anderson . Paak, Wicked director Jon M. Chu and Oscar winner Ang Lee were among the honorees at the 2025 Gold Gala over the weekend, an annual event celebrating and championing the A100 List of the most impactful Asian Pacific leaders in entertainment, media, sports and business.

Hosted and curated by the non-profit Gold House, this year’s event marked the fourth annual Gold Gala, with stars like Bowen Yang, Charli XCX, Laufey, Shohei Ohtani and Blackpink’s Lisa and Rosé also among the honorees. Celebs like Eric Nam, Shay Mitchell, Sandra Oh, Darren Barnet and Brenda Song, meantime, were among the stars that walked the gold carpet at The Music Center in Los Angeles Saturday, joined by Megan Thee Stallion, who received the “One House Honor” for allyship.

The theme of partnership and community ran through throughout the evening’s remarks. Accepting his award for A1 in Entertainment & Media, Chu recalled being on the set of G.I. Joe: Retaliation in 2013 and speaking to The Rock. “How cool is it to see a guy who looks like me working with a guy who looks like you?” Chu recalls The Rock saying, noting how rare it was at the time to have two AAPI leads on set. “Well we’re no longer begging for representation,” Chu told the Gold Gala crowd. “We’re not just guests at the table — we are building the damn house.”

Ang Lee echoed the sentiment as he was honored for the 25th anniversary of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. “I was very lonely when I first started in Hollywood,” he said, “but look at us now. Let’s keep on going.”

Hennessy returned as the “official spirit” of the Gold Gala, with bespoke cocktails designed by LA-based mixologist Ash Miyasaki that paid tribute to Asian flavors and celebratory motifs — think the “Seoul Sparkler” and “Bangkok Blush” with Hennessy V.S.O.P, and the boozy “Night Bloom” with Hennessy X.O. VIP guests were also invited to experience a special Hennessy Paradis tasting led by the Hennessy Prestige team, while stars signed the first-ever 3L Hennessy Paradis bottle, which will be auctioned off to benefit Gold House.

The cognac brand also brought out White Lotus star Tayme Thapthimthong as their special guest for the evening, and the Thai actor gamely posed for photos with fans of the HBO show (including Megan Thee Stallion) before taking the karaoke stage at the post-event Founders Party to sing Blackstreet’s “No Diggity” with Anderson .Paak. Thapthimthong said he was genuinely “so inspired” to see all the Asian talent at the event, noting that he wasn’t aware that so many of the actors and artists he looked up to, had Asian Pacific heritage. Who was Thapthimthong most excited to see aside from .Paak? That would be Pikachu, who was on hand to honor Pokémon CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara with the “Gold Legend” award for business and technology.

This was the third year that Hennessy has sponsored the Gold Gala, with the brand calling it a “growing cultural moment.” Indeed, a bottle of Hennessy has long been a part of Asian celebrations, as a go-to spirit for Lunar New Year, birthdays, weddings and casual gathering alikes. Hennessy partners with designer Phillip Lim each year to host a Lunar New Year dinner in New York, and the brand also recently launched a limited-edition Lunar New Year collection with Chinese fashion designer Shuting Qiu for The Year of the Snake.

“Hennessy has long been a cultural force, championing those who break barriers and redefine excellence,” Antoine Varlet, Senior Vice President of Hennessy, U.S., tells Rolling Stone. “Both Hennessy and Gold House share a dedication to supporting AAPI visionaries, artists, and entrepreneurs who are shaping the future. As the official spirit sponsor of Gold Gala for the third year, Hennessy is thrilled to stand in celebration of this unstoppable momentum, honoring a legacy of ambition, resilience, and impact.”

Varlet says the brand is committed to promoting and uplifting the Asian America community not just at the Gold Gala, but all year round. “Hennessy has a long standing commitment of supporting and empowering diverse communities,” he says, noting that “the brand champions AAPI culture and heritage through key partnerships and philanthropic efforts with APEX for Youth and Heart of Dinner, to our collaboration with Phillip Lim, to Unfinished Business, an initiative the brand launched in 2020 to help Black, Asian, and Latinx owned small businesses with financial and educational resources, as they faced the unprecedented challenges of Covid-19.”

“Hennessy is proud to spotlight Asian American culture throughout the year, beyond Lunar New Year and AAPI Heritage Month,” he says, “and is committed to amplifying and uplifting AAPI voices.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the U.S., having doubled in population from 2000 to 2019. In a press release, Gold House says that is mirrored in the growth of Asian representation both on- and off-screen, though work remains to be done.

The A100 List illuminates the profound cultural imprint of the Asian Pacific community,” says, Bing Chen and Jeremy Tran, CEO and COO of Gold House. “With this year’s honorees, we celebrate more than achievement—we honor the courage of those who take first steps when no clear solutions exist, becoming the First Lights that guide us all forward.”

Icelandic singer-songwriter Laufey, who performed at the Gold Gala, summed it up more personally: “I had very little Asian representation growing up,” she says. “I wanted to be a singer but I didn’t look like anyone, and the only Asian representation I saw was my mother. Never underestimate how much work you’re doing,” she told the crowd of Asian entertainers and business leaders. “There may be a little girl in Iceland who’s looking at you and saying, ‘Whoa.”