Niecy Nash's Emmys speech pays tribute to 'every Black and brown woman who has gone unheard'

Niecy Nash bet on herself and it paid off.

At the 2024 Emmys on Monday night, Nash was awarded for best supporting actress in a limited series for her role as Glenda Cleveland in "Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story."

"I'm a winner, baby!" she declared as she took the stage. "Thank you to the most high for this divine moment. Thank you, Ryan Murphy, for seeing me. Evan Peters, I love you. Netflix. Every single person who voted for me. Thank you. My better half, who picked me up when I was gutted from this work. Thank you."

Nash went on to pay tribute to those who contributed to her win, including herself.

"I want to thank me, for believing in me and doing what they said I could not do. I want to say to myself in front of all you beautiful people, 'Go, girl, with your bad self. You did that.'"

Emmys 2024:See the full winners list

Nash added: "Finally, I accept this award on behalf of every Black and brown woman who has gone unheard, yet overpoliced, like Glenda Cleveland, like Sandra Bland, like Breonna Taylor! My job is to speak truth to power and I'm (going to) do it to the day I die."

The moving speech came at a night of historic wins and powerful acceptance moments from actors of color, including Ayo Edebiri, Quinta Brunson and more. It didn't go unnoticed that the feats also happened on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Niecy Nash talks the power of positive self-esteem: 'I'm so proud of myself'

Backstage, Nash continued to share words of encouragement while in the press room at the Emmys. "I'm the only one who knows what it costs me. I'm the only one who knows how many nights I cried because I couldn't be seen for a certain type of role. I'm the one who knows what it's like to go through divorce on camera and still have to pull up and show out and you still got to go home — you've still got children and a whole life," she said.

"So, I'm proud of myself. I'm proud that I did something that people said I could not do, because I believed in me," the actress continued. "And sometimes people don't believe in themselves. And I hope my speech was a delicious invitation for people to do just that. … And that's why it's not called mama-esteem, them-esteem, us-esteem. It's called self-esteem because nobody got to believe it but you."

Nash noted that she was viewed in Hollywood as only a comedic actress, but had to prove she was "not a one-trick pony. I have some other tricks under these beautiful sleeves."

RuPaul encourages crowd to 'listen to a drag queen' as the show earns 5th Emmy

RuPaul is no stranger to Emmy wins for outstanding reality competition program, taking home his fifth award for "RuPaul's Drag Race" on Monday.

The judge and executive producer previously won the category for four consecutive years between 2018 and 2021, having lost to "Lizzo's Watch Out for The Big Grrrls" last year."

"We are so honored to have this award. Listen, you guys are just pure lovely for honoring our show and recognizing all these queens," he said. "We have released into the wild, hundreds of drag queens and they're beautiful. On behalf of all them, we thank you."

RuPaul added: "If a drag queen wants to read you a story at a library, listen to her because knowledge is power and if someone tries to restrict your access to power, they are trying to scare you so listen to a drag queen. We love you, thank you."

Quinta Brunson is second Black woman in over 30 years to win lead actress in a comedy at the Emmys

Brunson won the Emmy for best lead actress in a comedy series for ABC's "Abbott Elementary," an award presented to her by television legend Carol Burnett.

The win marks the first time in over 30 years for a Black woman to win in that category. The first and most recent winner of the award was Isabel Sanford for "The Jeffersons" in 1981.

As Brunson began to accept the award, her voice trembled as she was visibly overwhelmed by her win.

"Wow," Brunson said. "Thank you so much. I don't even know why I'm so emotional. I think, like, the Carol Burnett of it all."

Brunson wiped away tears as she said she loves making "Abbott Elementary" "so much" and is "so happy" to "live my dream and act out comedy." She added, "I say that every time, but I just love comedy so much that I am so happy to be able to get this."

Ayo Edebiri thanks her parents for 'letting me feel beautiful and Black and proud' at the Emmys

Edebiri took home the award for best supporting actress in a comedy series for her role in "The Bear."

"I'm so incredibly grateful for this for so many reasons, but the main one is this is a show about family and found family and real family," Edebiri began her speech. "And my parents are here tonight. I'm making them sit kind of far away from me because I'm a bad kid. But I love you guys so much. Thank you so much for loving me and letting me feel beautiful and black and proud of all of that."

She jokingly added: "(It's) probably not like a dream to emigrate 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."

Her win, in combination with Brunson's, marked the first time two Black women have swept the top categories for comedy in a single year. "It's very special and I’m very humbled. It's really, really special, on today of all days, too," Edebiri said in the press room.

GLAAD accepts Governors Award, calls for more trans visibility: 'It's life-saving'

GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis accepted the Governors Award on behalf of the organization at the Emmys, emphasizing the importance of visibility on screen.

"What the world sees on TV influences how we treat each other and the decisions that we make in our living rooms, schools, at work and at the ballot box," Ellis said. "More people say they have seen a ghost than know a transgender person. When you don't know people, it's easy to demonize them."

The GLAAD president added: "Visibility creates understanding, and it opens doors. It's life-saving. Our community has achieved so much and yet, we are still being victimized and villainized with cruel and harmful lies. Sharing stories is the antidote."

Contributing: KiMi Robertson, Brendan Morrow

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