On Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Black excellence took center stage at the 75th annual Emmys.
Winners like Quinta Brunson, Ayo Edebiri, Trevor Noah, RuPaul, and Niecy Nash-Betts took home the gold and made history in their own way. Specifically, Brunson and Edebiri made history being the only two Black women to take home the awards in the comedy category in the same year. Brunson also cemented her name in the history books as the second Black actress to win in that category and the first one in more than 40 years (the first and only actress to ever do so was Isabel Sanford in 1981.) As for Edebiri, she became the third Black woman to win for her category—previous winners include Jackee Harry (1987 and Sheryl Lee Ralph (2022).
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Nash took home her first Emmy win, bringing home the gold for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her role in “Dahmer—Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.” In her rousing acceptance speech, she took to time to thank the Black women who have gone unspoken and overpoliced like Glenda Cleveland (her character in “Dahmer”), Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor. But in what was perhaps the most moving part, she took the time to thank herself for believing in her talents and skills when others didn’t, which garnered a standing ovation from the audience and specifically actors Colman Domingo, Taraji P. Henson and Issa Rae who were captured nodding in agreement.
When asked why, Nash-Betts said this to reporters in the media room after her win:
“I’m the only one who knows what it cost me. I’m the only one who knows how many nights I cried because I couldn’t be seen for a certain type of role. I’m the one who knows what it’s like to go through divorce on camera and still have to pull up and show out. And you still got to go home and you have children and a whole life. So I’m proud of myself . I’m proud that I did something people said that I could not do.”
Along with Nash-Betts, Brunson and Edebiri, Trevor Noah and “The Daily Show” cast and writers also took home the award for Outstanding Talk Series. During an interview in the media room post- win, Noah talked about the possibility of him returning to the multi-award-winning show: “When I see everybody here in the same place, I’d gladly come back and work with everyone. [However] when I see what my schedule is on Wednesday, I wouldn’t do it.”
Noah himself made history as the first Black person to win an Emmy for Outstanding Talk Series.
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” added yet another win to it’s belt with its eponymous host making history as the most awarded host in the Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition category as well as the host with the most consecutive wins.
The Primetime Emmys also saw a handful of Blackity-black moments such as the “Martin” Reunion, Tracee Ellis Ross portraying fellow comedy icon Lucille Ball, host Anthony Anderson’s time-keeping, no-nonsense Mama Dorisa and presenters such as Marla Gibbs and Colman Domingo.
Additional wins went to Sam Richardson, Storm Reid, Barack Obama and Keke Palmer. Behind the camera, the “Chocolate Emmys”—as Anderson dubbed it—also saw Black folks at the helm in production. We have Jesse Collins Entertainment (yes, that Jesse Collins from BET) to thank for all the culturally relevant moments the show had to offer.
So far, the Emmys have been the only show to produce this many Black or POC winners (looking at you “BEEF”) in the entire awards season. Let’s hope this trend continues!
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