The 2017 Emmys were on this past Sunday! With any award show, we care about who wins but we also care about what they have to say in their speech. Here’s a look at some pretty great speeches this year.
Lena Waithe
Waithe is the first black woman to win the award for best writing in a comedy series. Waithe won for her work on the Netflix series, “Master of None.” And her speech was great. She spoke to the LGBTQIA community and said, “I see each and every one of you. The things that make us different, those are our superpowers…”
Riz Ahmed
Ahmed won best lead actor, limited series or movie for “The Night Of.” He is the first man of South Asian descent to win an acting award at the Emmys. My favorite quote of his speech was, “Just before I go, I want to say it is always strange reaping the rewards of a story that’s based on real-world suffering, but if this show has shone a light on some of the prejudice in our societies, Islamophobia, some of the injustice in our justice system, then maybe that is something.” His character in “The Night Of” was a Pakistani/Iranian-American student who was accused of murdering a woman.
Alec Baldwin
Baldwin won best supporting actor, comedy for his portrayal of Donald Trump on SNL. He started off with a joke to the President and said, “I suppose I should say, at long last Mr. President, here is your Emmy.” He was pointing out that Trump has tweeted the Emmys are rigged because his show, the Celebrity Apprentice, never won.
Baldwin’s speech ended on an inspiring note. He said that when you die, you don’t remember a bill or a Supreme Court decision, but “you remember a song. You remember a line from a movie. You remember a play. You remember a book. A painting. A poem. What we do is important. And for all of you out there in motion pictures and television, don’t stop doing what you are doing. The audience is counting on you. Thank you.”
Other Notable Mentions
Donald Glover won best director for “Atlanta.” He is the first black director to win in this category.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus now holds the record for having the most Emmys (six) of any single performer for the same role. She stars on “Veep.”
Sterling K. Brown won best lead actor in a drama series for “This is Us.” He is one of three black actors to ever win this award.