The 74th Primetime Emmy Awards took place last night (Sept. 12) in Los Angeles. While the event is meant to highlight those who have done phenomenal work on the television screen, many watched their screens in disgust as Quinta Brunson’s moment was overshadowed by Jimmy Kimmel’s antics.
Kimmel presented Brunson with the award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for her hit ABC sitcom “Abbott Elementary.” However, when it was time for Brunson to give her well-deserved acceptance speech, Kimmel never left the stage. In fact, he laid down, causing her to have to awkwardly step over him.
The strange moment seemed to be part of a joke that Kimmel drank too many margaritas after the comedian and talk show host lost in a category earlier that night, but fans weren’t feeling it. “Nothing will happen to Jimmy Kimmel for stealing Quinta Brunson’s moment as the first Black woman to win a solo Emmy for writing on a show she created. Anyone who calls this a pattern of Kimmel’s racism will get dragged despite him doing Blackface twice and using the N-word,” one person wrote on Twitter.
Another outraged fan said, “White male privilege is laying on the ground [and] expecting a Black woman to just step around you while she accepts her hard-earned award. F**k Jimmy Kimmel.” Others felt that his decision to not move out of her way came from a sense of “pure jealousy and entitlement.”
After the ceremony, Brunson spoke with the press and kept it cute when asked about the distracting stunt. “I felt like the bit didn’t bother me that much,” she began. “Tomorrow maybe I’ll be mad at him. I’m going to be on his show on Wednesday, so I might punch him in the face,” Brunson joked to a reporter.