5 of The Blackest Moments at the 75th 'Emmy Awards'
The "75th Emmy Awards" were last night in Los Angeles at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live, and we are proud of the show produced by an all-star all-Black executive team, but that was not the only win for us. Comedian Anthony Anderson hosted the show and many of our favorite Black celebrities came out on top with golden hardware.
Here are the top 5 moments of the night:
1. Niecy Nash-Betts reminded us why it's important to thank yourself.
"I'm a winner baby," said Nash-Betts, who won for Best Supporting Actress for her work in "Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story." After thanking the "most high for this divine moment," she gave a shout-out to Netflix, the show's creator Ryan Murphy and Evan Peters, who portrayed the real-life serial killer on the limited series, and her wife Jessica Betts, "who picked me up when I was gutted from this work."
After that, the star brought down the house with an emotive message to herself.
"And you know who I want to thank? I want to thank me," she began while receiving a wave of cheers from the audience. She recognized herself "For believing in me, and doing what they said I could not do. And I want to say to myself in front of all you beautiful people, 'gone girl with yo bad self!' You did that!'"
“Finally, I accept this award on behalf of every Black and brown woman who has gone unheard, yet overpoliced like Glenda Cleveland [whom she portrayed in "Dahmer"], like Sandra Bland, like Breonna Taylor."
She continued, "As an artist, my job is to bring truth to power, and baby Imma do it till the day I die."
"Momma, I won!" she wrapped her message as cameras panned to her mom, Margaret Ensley, who cheered in the audience next to Jessica.
2. "Black-ish" alum Anthony Anderson hosted the ceremony, and his mom, Doris Hancox, was his ultimate sidekick.
While performing his opening monologue, his mom wasted no time letting him know who was really in charge.
"I wanna go to the after party, hurry!" she said from the audience while serving as the show's unofficial time-keeper.
That's right, Momma!
"I had two things on my bucket list: To win an Emmy and to host the Emmy Awards. I'm getting one step closer," he told Entertainment Tonight before the show.
3. After 42 years, Quinta Brunson made history by becoming the second Black woman to win "Lead Actress in A Comedy Series" for "Abbott Elementary."
"I am so happy to be able to live my dream and act out comedy," she said while tearfully accepting her award. "I love comedy so much," she added. Brunson also revealed that she didn't prepare an acceptance speech because she didn't think she'd win.
She finished by thanking her loved ones and the cast of the ABC show.
4. "The Bear" star Ayo Edebiri is now the 3rd Black woman to win "Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series" for her work on the FX show. She stands on the shoulders of Jackée Harry and Sheryl Lee Ralph.
After her name was called, she hugged cast members Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Jeremy Allen White and walked onto the stage to accept her award.
"I'm so incredibly grateful for this, for so many reasons, but the main one, this show is about family, found family, and real family," she said while acknowledging her parents who attended the ceremony. "I'm making them sit far away from me because I'm a bad kid," she quipped.
"I love you guys so much, thank you for loving me and letting me feel beautiful, and Black and proud. I just love you so much. Probably not your dream to immigrate to this country and have your child be like 'I want to do improv,' but you're real ones."
"Thank you so much for this. It means the world," she said while wrapping up her speech.
5. The "Martin" cast, including Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell, Carl Anthony Payne II, and Tichina Arnold, reunited in a reimagined version of the sitcom's iconic living room.
The quartet gathered to present the award for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, but Payne II had other plans. "We finally about to get an Emmy," while adding his signature animal call noise.
"We're not winning an Emmy tonight, sit yo butt down," said Campbell. "Carl, we're presenting an award, not being presented with one knucklehead," added Arnold.
"I'm leaving here with something," said Carl.
We know that's right!
"Wait, wait wait. Carl isn't all the way wrong you guys. I mean, we should have won an Emmy during our run," Campbell said as the crowd cheered.
"True!" added Arnold.
"That would be right," said Lawrence.
"We were never even nominated despite our 132 episodes, our huge ratings, and being in syndicated so much that it's a little hard for me to see the 90s spankless version of myself every night," Campbell joked.