The Emmys came off on Monday night, featuring Hollywood’s biggest names in television, who graced the event with glamor and glitz. The event, which took place four months late due to the strikes, saw Succession, The Bear and Beef emerge as the big winners.
The night also saw young Black women make history, including Quinta Brunson of Abbott Elementary and Ayo Edebiri of The Bear. Brunson won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, while Edebiri won her first Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
Brunson’s award is significant because she has become only the second Black actress to win in that category and the first one in more than 40 years. The first Black actress to win this award was Isabel Sanford in 1981.
Brunson was teary when it was announced she had won best lead actress in a comedy for Abbott Elementary.
“Oh, man,” Brunson said before immediately tearing up and pausing, according to the Daily News. “Thank you so much. I don’t know why I’m so emotional. I think like the Carol Burnett of it all.
“I am so happy to be able to live my dream and act in comedy,” she concluded.
Nigerian-American Edibiri is the third Black woman to win her category for her performance as Sydney Adamu in The Bear. Past Black winners include Jackee Harry in 1987 and Sheryl Lee Ralph in 2022.
“This is a show about family and found family and real family. And my parents are here tonight. I’m making them sit kind of far away because I’m a bad kid,” she said while thanking her parents for encouraging her to follow her dreams.
“Probably not like a dream to immigrate to this country and have your child be like, I want to do improve,’” she concluded.
Edebiri recently won her first Golden Globe for the same role. She was born in Boston in 1995 to a Barbadian mother and a Nigerian father, who immigrated to the United States. The Dorchester native graduated from Boston Latin School in 2013 and went to New York University to continue her education.
