In what is probably the most Blackish Emmys ever with host Anthony Anderson, a reunion of Martin Lawrence’s “Martin,” historic wins from many Black actors (and by the way, the show was produced by Jesse Collins Entertainment), the 75th Emmys was quite entertaining, quite diverse, and what a celebration.
Quinta Brunson became the first Black actress in 40-plus years to take home the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy. Of course, that’s for her show, “Abbott Elementary.” The last Black woman, by the way, to win the award was Isabel Sanford in “The Jeffersons” back in 1981.
But it was Niecy Nash Betts who stole the show with her acceptance speech after winning the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Anthology Series or Movie. Niecy took a minute to thank the person who’s been there since the very beginning, herself. She came back to the press room and explained:
“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. And so I’m proud of myself. I’m proud that I did something that people said I could not do because I believed in me and sometimes people don’t believe in themselves. And I hope my speech was a delicious invitation for people to do just that: Believe in yourself and congratulate yourself. Sometimes you got to encourage, what? Yourself. And that’s why it’s not called mama-esteem, them-esteem, us-esteem, it’s called self-esteem. Cause don’t nobody got to believe it, but you.”
“Succession,” one of my all-time favorite shows, won with six awards each. Of course, the Roy clan of “Succession” and the newfound family of “The Bear” were the Emmy’s biggest winners.
And what a show! We’ll have a lot more from backstage at the Emmys later on this week, so stay tuned, and don’t forget to follow us @aurnonline for all of the YouTube videos that we have from award season.
Click play to hear the Hollywood Live report from Tanya Hart:
