Emmys 2021: The Crown dominates, streamers get ahead, and three more talking points
Television’s biggest night took place in Los Angeles
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The 2021 Emmys took place on Sunday, with attendees joining from Los Angeles and London as the ceremony returned to an in-person format.
Only a limited amount of nominees were invited to attend, and all had to present proof that they were vaccinated against Covid – as well as negative tests – in order to gain access to the event.
Actor and comedian Cedric the Entertainer was on hosting duties. Heading into the evening, The Crown and The Mandalorian were leading this year’s nominations.
During the ceremony, The Crown, The Queen’s Gambit and Ted Lasso won the evening’s top awards. Mare of Easttown also scored several high-profile wins, including Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie for Kate Winslet.
Here are the main talking points from the 2021 Emmy Awards:
Powerful women
Wonderful women stole the show at this year’s ceremony, from Kate Winslet’s speech about her detective in Mare of Easttown being a “middle-aged, imperfect, flawed mother who made us all feel validated”, to Michaela Coel dedicating her win to “every single survivor of sexual assault”. A big shout-out to Olivia Colman too, who we’re pretty sure got bleeped out for shouting “Michaela Coel, f*** yeah!” (or similar) in her own acceptance speech. (EH)
Covid concerns
The coronavirus pandemic, as it has become known to do, wormed its way into many speeches over the course of the night. Seth Rogen criticised the event’s perceived lack of Covid measures, calling it “insane”, while host Cedric the Entertainer joked that the vaccine did not lead to his testicles becoming swollen, in a reference to Nicki Minaj’s comments this week. Ewan McGregor and Kate Winslet, meanwhile, were among the winners to thank their shows’ crews for keeping them safe during filming. (EH)
All-white winners in major categories
Despite calls and efforts to get major awards shows to reward the work of actors of colour, white actors won all 12 major acting awards during Sunday’s ceremony. This applies to the lead and supporting actor and actress trophies in the Drama, Comedy, and Limited or Anthology Series or Movie categories. This despite the fact that – as reported by The Hollywood Reporter – performers of colour made up 44 per cent of this year’s nominees. (CM)
The Crown wins big
Netflix’s British royal saga was crowned Outstanding Drama Series in one of its many wins of the evening. With seven trophies, it emerged as the top programme of the 2021 Emmys. Many of its stars won acting awards, including a tearful Olivia Colman, a giggling Josh O’Connor, Tobias Menzies and Gillian Anderson. Its director Jessica Hobbs also triumphed, as well as creator Peter Morgan. (CM)
A great night for streamers
The Crown, a Netflix series, won Outstanding Drama Series, one of the evening’s top three awards. Outstanding Comedy Series went to Ted Lasso, an Apple TV+ programme, while The Queen’s Gambit, another Netflix show, won Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. In other words: streamers ruled television’s biggest night, and the streaming wars aren’t going to ease off any time soon. (CM)
Follow the ceremony as it happened with out live blog:
Another win for The Crown! Gillian Anderson wins Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series for her performance as Margaret Thatcher.
Also nominated were Helena Bonham Carter, Emerald Fennell , Madeline Brewer, Ann Dowd, Yvonne Strahovski, Samira Wiley, and Aunjanue Ellis.
Kerry Washington just paid a moving tribute to Michael K Williams, who died on 6 September aged 54 and is nominated tonight for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series. She tells Williams she knows he’s here, because he wouldn’t miss the ceremony.
Tobias Menzies wins Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series for his role as as Prince Philip in The Crown!
Menzies, who couldn’t attend the ceremony tonight, was nominated alongside O-T Fagbenle, Max Minghella, Bradley Whitford, Giancarlo Esposito, John Lithgow, and Chris Sullivan.
Washington (pictured earlier on the red carpet) accepted Menzie’s award on his behalf.
Big fan of this moment in Evan Peters’s acceptance speech after his Mare of Easttown win:
The team from Last Week Tonight With John Oliver wins Outstanding Writing For A Variety Series! Also nominated were the teams of writers from The Amber Ruffin Show, A Black Lady Sketch Show, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, and Saturday Night Live.
And Last Week Tonight With John Oliver also wins Outstanding Variety Talk Series, beating Conan, The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
SNL win alert! Saturday Night Live just won Outstanding Variety Sketch Series. It was nominated alongside A Black Lady Sketch Show.
Evan Peters and Julianne Nicholson of Mare of Easttown are looking adorably victorious in the press room!
The cast of Schitt’s Creek are here to present the Emmy for Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series and they are a HIT with the attendees.
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