The 70th Primetime Emmy Awards was a star-studded evening just like every year. Colin Jost and Michael Che of Saturday Night Live hosted the ceremony. There were some awe-inspiring moments as well that made some important statements. Here's a rundown of some of them.
Opening song about diversity
The Introduction song called out Hollywood for assuming that it's solved its diversity issues. It poked fun at the concept of Hollywood crediting itself for making the smallest strides in diversity. Kristen Bell, RuPaul, Ricky Martin, and Sterling K. Brown all made appearances. The song pointed out that they still have to do a lot more work to achieve true equality in Hollywood.
This year's nominees for Emmys, however, were more diverse than ever, with shows like Atlanta, Insecure, and The Handmaid's Tale adding up multiple categories. Sandra Oh became the first Asian woman to be nominated for a lead actress award for Killing Eve.
Jenifer Lewis wore Nike in support of Colin Kaepernick
Black-ish actor Jenifer Lewis, very significantly, made a statement on the red carpet. She wore Nike in support of its latest campaign. This look came after Nike faced backlash for featuring quarterback Colin Kaepernick as the company’s new face. “I am wearing Nike to applaud them for supporting Colin Kaepernick and his protest against racial injustice and police brutality,” she told Variety. “What can I do that’s meaningful? I’ll wear Nike,” she said on the red carpet. “I’ll wear Nike to say thank you. Thank you for leading the resistance! We need more corporate America to stand up also.”
Kaepernick was the first NFL player to kneel during the national anthem as a protest against racism. Nike chose him as one of the faces for advertisements to commemorate the 30th anniversary of its “Just Do It” slogan on September 3.
The "Marvellous" sweep
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel bagged maximum awards at the ceremony. The night started off with some amazing wins for women in television and comedy. While Rachel Brosnahan won in the lead actress category, Amy Sherman-Palladino became the first woman to win for both writing and directing in the same season.
The Queer Eye guys announcing an award
One thing that cannot be denied is that the Emmys never looked so bright until the Queer Eye fab five, Jonathan Van Ness, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski, and Bobby Berk, walked the red carpet and then took to the stage. Earlier, their hit Netflix show won three Emmys at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards show.
Black Actors Won All Four Guest Star Emmy Awards for the First Time
Four actors made history even before the ceremony. Tiffany Haddish, Ron Cephas Jones, Samira Wiley, and Katt Williams swept the four guest actor categories during the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Saturday. This marks the first time all four awards have been won by black actors. The best guest actor and actress in a comedy series awards went to Katt Williams for his role as Uncle Willie in Atlanta and Tiffany Haddish for her Saturday Night Live episode last November, respectively. Also, the corresponding drama awards went to Samira Wiley for her performance as Moira in The Handmaid's Tale. Ron Cephas Jones bagged the award for his character "William" in This Is Us.
Hannah Gadsby
Hannah Gadsby, who hit all the right chords with her electrifying Netflix special Nanette, had her Emmys moment as well. She presented the Emmy for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series to Stephen Daldry for The Crown. It was refreshing to hear Gadsby.
Betty White's presence
Emmys honoured 96-year-old Betty White for her contribution of more than 80 years in television. The audience gave a standing ovation to the icon, who has won eight Emmy Awards in her career.
The proposal
The Emmys awarded producer and director Glenn Weiss the award for Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special for his position as the director of this year's Academy Awards. After mentioning a few thank-yous, Weiss began speaking of his late mother, and later drifted the topic to his girlfriend, Jan Svendsen.
"You wonder why I don't like to 'call you my girlfriend?' Because I want to call you my wife," Weiss told a shocked Jan Svendsen, who was sitting in the audience. The crowd, of course, went wild. Svendsen accepted Weiss's proposal and that called for a great Hollywood ending.
The good part about Emmys 2018 was that the nominations took a refreshing turn by acknowledging and validating multi-faceted female characters.
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