By Sadahrie Mandujano, Staff Writer
The annual Emmy awards took place on September 2nd, 2022. Many wins were awarded to big shows and great performances across television and film. Some big nominations for the night included, “Abbott Elementary”, “Only Murders in the Building” and “Ted Lasso” for Comedy Series, “Stranger Things”, “Euphoria”, and “Squid Game” for Drama Series. Within these nominations there were also many incredible actors and actresses nominated for their outstanding performances such as Zendaya, Lee Jung-jae, Zendaya, and Quinta Brunson.
This year was a great year for people of color in the film industry, earning many nominations and wins along with making history at the award show. Among the 25 awards presented there were winners such as Zendaya for her outstanding performance in hit HBO show “Euphoria”. She made history as the youngest two time winner in Emmy history, as well as the first black woman to win the award for two consecutive years.
Another historic moment went to hit Netflix show “Squid Game” with Lee Jung-jae becoming the first Asian actor in history to win the Emmy awards for lead actor in a drama series.
Two actresses from “Abbott Elementary” were among those who made history as well. Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph was the first black woman of this century to win the award for best supporting comedy actress. Quinta Brunson who was a Buzzfeed employee and gathered a following for her comedic writing won the Emmy for her writing in a comedy series, making her the third black person in history to win this award.
As in almost every award show, there were plenty of controversial moments to emerge from the night. One of the most prominent moments was the skit between Jimmy Kimmel and Will Arnett. Kimmel was dragged out by Arnett to announce the award for Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series which was given to Quinta Brunson for “Abbott Elementary”. However, when she got up on stage to accept her award and give her speech, Kimmel remained lying on the floor as she spoke and remained there for the entirety of her speech. Many thought his actions were rude and disrespectful as it took away from the moment recognizing her hard work.
Because of the backlash he received online, he later invited Brunson onto his talk show for an opportunity to finish her speech and have the attention many thought she deserved.