Entertainment

The 2021 Emmy Awards found itself in hot water on Sunday when not a single Black, Brown or Asian actor won an acting award — despite heading into the night with the most diverse nomination field in the show’s history with 49 people of color up for acting and reality competition awards.

The only people of color who took home a statuette during the ceremony were RuPaul for Outstanding Competition Program and Michaela Coel for Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.  

One of the biggest upsets of the night was the late Michael K. Williams, whose riveting performance on Lovecraft Country did not manifest the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series as predicted.  Instead, the honor went to The Crown‘s Tobias Menzies for his portrayal of Prince Philip. Kerry Washington accepted Menzies’ award on his behalf.

Critics pointed out that this marks the second time in a year that a late Black actor lost to a British actor who was a no-show.  During the 2021 Oscar Awards, Chadwick Boseman was favored to win Best Actor but lost to Anthony Hopkins, who had the Academy accept his honor on his behalf.

Another upset came during the Lead Actor in a Drama Series category, where four of the six nominees were actors of color — Sterling K. Brown, Regé-Jean Page, Jonathan Majors and Billy Porter.  The Crown‘s Josh O’Connor ultimately collected the award.

Reaction to the night’s ceremony was fierce, with actress Yvette Nicole Brown tweeting during the show, “Every chance they had to make history in a meaningful way, they passed on it. Just said, ‘Naw, son.’ Mmkay. Got it.”

The controversy has renewed calls for the Emmy Awards to reevaluate its voting base, in addition for boycotts.

The hashtag #EmmysSoWhite also began trending on Twitter.

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The Crown and The Queen’s Gambit were the big winners at the 73rd Emmy Awards, with each series earning 11 awards. Saturday Night Live followed behind with eight Emmys, and Ted Lasso and The Mandalorian won seven a piece.

During Sunday’s telecast, The Crown won the outstanding drama series award, Ted Lasso took home the outstanding comedy award and The Queen’s Gambit received the Emmy for outstanding limited or anthology series.

Cedric the Entertainer hosted the in-person ceremony at The Event Deck at L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles.

Here are the winners in the major categories:

Supporting actress in a comedy series
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso

Supporting actor in a comedy series
Brett Goldstein, Ted Lasso

Supporting actress in a limited or anthology series or movie
Julianne Nicholson, Mare of Easttown

Supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie
Evan Peters, Mare of Easttown

Supporting actor in a drama series
Tobias Menzies, The Crown

Supporting actress in a drama series
Gillian Anderson, The Crown

Variety talk series
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Competition program
RuPaul’s Drag Race

Lead actress in a comedy series
Jean Smart, Hacks

Lead actor in a comedy series
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso

Lead actor in limited series or movie
Ewan McGregor, Halston

Lead actress in a limited series or movie
Kate Winslet, Mare of Easttown

Lead actress in a drama series
Olivia Colman, The Crown

Lead actor in a drama series
Josh O’Connor, The Crown

Comedy series
Ted Lasso

Drama series
The Crown

Limited series
The Queen’s Gambit

Governors Award
Debbie Allen

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Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit proved to be a hit at the 2021 Emmy Awards, collecting one of the highest honors of the night: Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.

This also marks the first time a streaming service has won in that category. 

Creator Scott Frank shouted out Netflix during his acceptance speech, saying, “You guys did the rarest thing of all these days. You took a chance on risky material and you trusted the filmmakers.”

He also praised the show for inspiring “a whole generation of girls and young women to realize that patriarchy simply has no defense against our queens.”

In all, he expressed how thrilled he is that Gambit “brought sexy back to chess!”

The seven-episode series, which follows a chess prodigy played by Anya Taylor-Joy, went into the award show with buzz that it would be the show to beat in its respective category — but not without strong competition from its competitors I May Destroy You, Mare of Easttown, WandaVision and The Underground Railroad.

The Queen’s Gambit was nominated for 18 statuettes total and took home 11 of them.

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Netflix’s The Crown took home the coveted 2021 Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series during Sunday night’s ceremony.

Although the show was held in-person for the first time in two years and hosted by comedian Cedric the Entertainer at The Event Deck at L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles, the award was accepted live from London, where the cast is about to embark on another season. 

“We’re gonna have a party now,” said creator Peter Morgan during the acceptance speech. 

Other series nominated for Outstanding Drama included The Boys, Bridgerton, The Handmaid’s Tale, Lovecraft Country, The Mandalorian, Pose, and This is Us.

With the addition of the Outstanding Drama Series award, The Crown takes home a total of 11 Emmys during the 2021 ceremony, including Outstanding Lead Actress for Olivia Colman and Outstanding Lead for Josh O’Connor. 

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Ted Lasso was the comedy series to beat at the 2021 Emmy Awards and finished its massively successful night by walking away with the enviable Outstanding Comedy Series statuette.

The series faced stiff competition this year, with black-ish, Cobra Kai, Emily in Paris, Hacks, PEN15, The Flight Attendant and The Kominsky Method.

Creator Bill Lawrence accepted the award on the cast’s behalf, telling the audience: “The biggest thank you from this group is to the people that watch. I really think I can speak for everybody here when I say we all know how lucky we are to do this for a living. And we appreciate you tonight. Thank you so much.”

He also referred to Apple CEO Tim Cook as T-dawg in his speech, joking about his boss’ new nickname, “He does not know that yet, but fingers crossed.”

The Apple TV+ series steamrolled the comedy categories, taking home Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy for star Jason Sudeikis, and Outstanding Supporting Actor and Actress in a Comedy for Brett Goldstein and Hannah Waddingham, respectively. 

The comedy was up for 20 awards heading into Sunday night’s ceremony.

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The Crown stars Josh O’Connor and Olivia Coleman took home the 2021 Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress in a drama series during Sunday night’s ceremony.

Both winners accepted their awards during the live show, which was held in-person for the first time in two years and hosted by comedian Cedric the Entertainer from the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles.

Appearing live from London, Coleman seemed shocked by her win before taking the stage.

“Thank you very much for this. This is amazing. And what a lovely end to the most extraordinary journey with this lovely family. I loved every second of it,” she said of her time on the show. 

Through teary-eyes, Coleman wrapped up her speech, adding, “I wish my dad was here to see this. I lost my daddy during COVID and he would have loved all of this.” 

O’Connor kept his acceptance light, cracking a joke before going down his list of thank you’s, which included a shout out to his colleagues and family. 

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The Crown stars Josh O’Connor and Olivia Colman took home the 2021 Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress in a drama series during Sunday night’s ceremony.

Both winners accepted their awards during the live show, which was held in-person for the first time in two years and hosted by comedian Cedric the Entertainer at The Event Deck at L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles.

Appearing live from London, Colman seemed shocked by her win before taking the stage.

“Thank you very much for this. This is amazing. And what a lovely end to the most extraordinary journey with this lovely family. I loved every second of it,” she said of her time on the show. 

Through teary-eyes, Colman wrapped up her speech, adding, “I wish my dad was here to see this. I lost my daddy during COVID and he would have loved all of this.” 

O’Connor kept his acceptance light, cracking a joke before going down his list of thank you’s, which included a shout out to his colleagues and family. 

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Kate Winslet added her second Emmy to her trophy case after taking home the statuette for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her leading role in Mare of Easttown.

The British actress breathlessly accepted her award and was overwhelmed with joy.

She started out her speech shouting out the women who have come before her, remarking, “I just want to acknowledge my fellow nominees in this decade, that has to be about women having each other’s backs. I support you. I salute you. I’m proud of all of you.”

Winslet also praised the character she plays in Mare, saying she plays “a middle aged, imperfect, flawed mother” that “made us all feel validated, quite honestly.”

The actress won her first Emmy Award 10 years ago, taking home the award for playing the leading role in HBO’s Mildred Pierce in 2011.

Ewan McGregor collected his first Emmy win on Sunday night, earning the statuette for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for his standout role in Halston.

“It’s quite difficult going after you, Kate. That was a lovely speech,” he complimented to start off his speech. “I just want to thank our crew, first of all, because like so many people have said tonight, we shot through the pandemic in New York City and through everybody’s professionalism and passion, kept us all safe.” 

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RuPaul made history Sunday night at the 2021 Emmy Awards, collecting his record-breaking 11th win when his show, RuPaul’s Drag Race, won Outstanding Competition Program.

RuPaul is now the most decorated person of color in Emmys history, in tandem with Drag Race becoming the reality competition show with the most wins. 

“Wow, thank you so much to the Academy and all of you gorgeous people here tonight,” he gushed upon accepting his award. “All of the people at World of Wonder and Viacom-CBS who have been so wonderful, but really thanks to all of our lovely children on our show from around the world. You know, they are so gracious to tell their stories of courage and how to navigate this difficult life, even more difficult today. This is for you.”

He also invited “the kids out there watching” to join his tribe, saying it is “waiting for you.”

He was previously tied with cinematographer Donald A. Morgan, after taking home his 10th trophy at last week’s Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

In addition, this marks the sixth year in a row RuPaul has won Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program.

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Jason Sudeikis and Jean Smart won the 2021 Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress in a comedy series during Sunday night’s ceremony.

Both winners accepted their awards during the show, which was held in-person for the first time in two years and hosted by comedian Cedric the Entertainer from the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles.

Smart, who won for her leading role in Hacks, began her speech on an emotional note, crediting her late husband, Richard Gilliland, for aiding in her success. He died in March after a brief illness at the age of 71. 

“I have to acknowledge my late husband, Richard Gilliland, who passed away six months yesterday, and I would not be here without him, without his kind of putting his career on the back burner so that I could take advantage of all the wonderful opportunities that I’ve had,” she said while holding back tears. She then thanked her “two incredible unselfish children.”

Other talented nominees for the Outstanding Lead Actress category included Aidy Bryant for her role in Shrill, Kaley Cuoco for The Flight Attendant, Allison Janney for Mom, and Tracee Ellis Ross for Black-ish.

Snagging another award for the hit series Ted Lasso was Sudeikis, who went up against Anthony Anderson‘s role in Black-ish, Michael Douglas in The Kominsky Method, William H. Macy in Shameless, and Kenan Thompson in Kenan.

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