TV producer and writer Quinta Brunson, the first Black woman to earn three Emmy nominations in comedy categories the same year, took home her first Emmy on Monday for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. Brunson portrays teacher Janine Teagues in the ABC sitcom “Abbott Elementary,” a show Brunson named after her sixth-grade teacher, Ms. Joyce Abbott.
Brunson simply dazzled on stage giving her acceptance speech, as did one of her co-stars in the series, "Dreamgirls" actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, who also earned her first Emmy nomination and long overdue award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
For Brunson, the night presented a moment to get wrapped up in. But onlookers who watched the comedian accept her award were distracted by TV host Jimmy Kimmel dragging out a comedy bit that many felt he got a little too carried away with.
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He and actor Will Arnett presented the award to Brunson via a skit that featured Kimmel pretending to be passed out on the floor in front of the mic after several Emmy losses led him to too many "skinny margaritas.”
Brunson played along, telling Kimmel: “Jimmy, wake up. I won!”
When he didn’t move she told him: “Okay, hold my phone.”
The crowd chuckled, but social media users were not amused. Kimmel stayed on the floor throughout Brunson’s acceptance speech.
Heba Gowayed, a sociology professor at Boston University, tweeted: "If #QuintaBrunson stepping over #JimmyKimmel who literally laid in her spotlight on the day she won an Emmy isn’t a metaphor for what it means to be a WOC (woman of color) in a white man's world I don’t know what is."
Author Candice Benbow tweeted: "Jimmy Kimmel owes Quinta an apology but the messed up part is every image of her accepting her award has his ass in it. White men really are insufferable."
April Reign, diversity and inclusion advocate and creator of the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag, posted a video of another moment Kimmel put himself in the middle of the moment: When the film "La La Land" was mistakenly announced to be the winner of the best picture award during the 2017 Academy Awards. "Moonlight," a film about a young Black man learning to navigate his attraction to other men, actually won.
Kimmel joked after “La La Land” producers were left to explain that they lost: “I think you all should just keep it anyway.”
Reign retweeted a video of the moment with the words: “Just a reminder of how Jimmy Kimmel doesn’t seem to be able to let Black folks shine in really important moments.”
Brunson, however, came to Kimmel’s defense when asked about her Emmy win immediately after the award show.
"I know Jimmy Kimmel, and I don't know, I felt like the bit didn’t bother me that much,” she said. “I don’t know what the internet thinks.”
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She continued:
“Jimmy gave me my first like big late-night spot and was one of the first people to see Abbott and one of the first people, he Instagram messaged me that he saw this comedy and thought it was one of the greatest comedies of all time. And he was so excited it was gonna be on ABC, so I think in that moment I was just really happy that it was Jimmy up there. I kind of consider him one of the comedy godfathers. I’m a huge fan of Will Arnett, so I was wrapped up in the moment. I don’t know. Tomorrow maybe I’ll be mad at him. I’m gonna be on his show on Wednesday, so I might punch him in the face. I don’t know.”
Kimmel had Brunson on his show earlier this year when he surprised her with a virtual visit from her show's namesake. Brunson said she didn’t think she’d seen Ms. Abbott since sixth grade. The actress’ eyes watered when the teacher appeared on screen and shared how proud she is of Brunson, to which Kimmel jokingly responded: “Thank you, Ms. Abbott. Oh, I think she meant you.”
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Look: The takeaway here isn’t that Kimmel is a horrible person. I don’t know that to be true, and I certainly don’t think it’s unreasonable that someone paid to be the center of attention might have a difficult time discerning the moments during which he’s supposed to step out of the spotlight. Brunson didn’t have a problem with the Kimmel bit, so I don’t have a problem with it.
But if she were offended or, perhaps, just a tad irritated that another comedian was laid out on stage throughout her shining moment, she would have every right to be.
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