Creative Arts Emmys Makes History As Black Actors Win Guest Categories

For the first time in Emmy award history, the four winners of the guest performance category were African American.

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At this year’s Creative Arts Emmys ceremony, Tiffany Haddish bagged the win for Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for Saturday Night Live, Ron Cephas Jones received the award for most Outstanding Guest Actor in A Drama Series for This Is Us, Samira Wiley copped the equivalent for her role in The Handmaid’s Tale, and Katt Williams received the award for most Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy series for Atlanta. 

The awards were all of the actors’ first Emmys.

Wiley wrapped up her acceptance speech by thanking her wife, Lauren Morelli,who every day shows me what real passion is for your work and every hour gives me a reason to bring it.” 

Cephas Jones, who played William ‘Shakespeare’ Hill and made us cry a lot on This Is Us, said it would have been “difficult” for a moment like this to happen in the past.

“We are moving forward and moving ahead,” the actor said as per Deadline

In the last 20 years there have been two other multiple wins for black actors in the guest actor category – in 2003 and 2014.

The spectacular wins come as Hollywood and alike work toward greater diversity and inclusion in both casts and crews. Earlier this year, after Frances McDormand‘s rousing speech at the 2018 Academy Awards ceremony, Michael B. Jordan announced he had adopted the Inclusion Rider clause on all projects scooped up by his company, Outlier Society. 

An Inclusion Rider is a clause added to a high-profiled actor’s contract that would require at least fifty per cent diversity in gender, identification, sexual orientation, race, and ability in their cast and crew.

Meanwhile, across the other awards Shauna Duggins from Netflix‘s GLOW took home the Creative Arts Emmys award for Outstanding Stunt Coordination in a Comedy or Variety series. This was Duggins’ second nomination and first win making her the first-ever woman to receive the award. HBO‘s Game of Thrones took home a whopping seven trophies including the most Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score), Outstanding Special Visual Effects, and Outstanding Prosthetic Make-up for a Series, Limited Series, Movie, or Special.

Unsurprisingly, GOT copped 22 nominations.

FX‘s series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story also scored, taking home four awards on night one of the ceremony. One of these included most Outstanding Contemporary Costumes.

Night two of the Creative Arts Emmys will continue tonight/the early hours of tomorrow (for us) while the 70th Primetime Emmys ceremony will take place on September 17. 

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