Eddie Huang Speaking Fee: $10,000 to $20,000

Eddie Huang’s memoir, Fresh Off the Boat, was hailed by The New York Times as “Bawdy and frequently hilarious ... a surprisingly sophisticated memoir about race and assimilation in America ... as much James Baldwin and Jay-Z as Amy Tan.” A sitcom based on the book, airing on ABC, is the first Asian American family-centric TV series in nearly 20 years. The show, also called Fresh Off the Boat, stars Randall Park as Louis, Constance Wu as Jessica, Hudson Yang as Eddie, Forrest Wheeler as Emery, and Ian Chen as Evan. It has been called “a long-overdue win for Asian-American representation in the primetime slot” (PolicyMic). Huang’s latest book, Double Cup Love: On the Trail of Family, Food, and Broken Hearts in China, is touted as a “fiercely original story of culture, family, love, and red-cooked pork” and was called “another punch of passion” by Publishers Weekly. The New York Times describes it as “an elaborate story of love and self-discovery … [Huang] regards the world with an understanding of its absurdities and injustices and with a willingness to be surprised.” In The New Yorker, Double Cup Love was praised for its authentic look at what being Asian American means in today’s American and international context, saying, “Huang is determined to tease out the subtle and not-so-subtle ways in which Asian-Americans give up parts of themselves in order to move forward … Fortunately for us, he’s not afraid to speak up about it.” Huang’s food and travel series, Huang’s World, is now airing on VICE’s television network Viceland. The show focuses on “exploring identity using food as an equalizer” and reveals the world’s rich cultural and culinary diversities—with Huang as the ever-charming, idiosyncratic host (mixing “food, travel, and attitude,” writes The New York Times). He is widely known as the chef and owner of the popular Taiwanese restaurant Baohaus in New York City’s East Village and host of MTV’s Snack-Off. Huang is also a panelist on MTV2’s Jobs That Don’t Suck and has appeared on Anthony Bourdain’s The Layover.