Emmys: Watch Niecy Nash, Quinta Brunson’s Emotional Speeches

The Emmys celebrates the contributions of television's best actors, actresses, directors, writers, and more. While the award show was delayed four months due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes last year, it proved that perhaps it was worth the wait. The 2023 Emmys (also known as the 75th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards) was held on Jan. 15 at 8 p.m. at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles. The show was hosted by Anthony Anderson.

Shows such as Succession, Beef, The Bear, and more swept several categories along with the stars of the shows taking the stage to receive acting awards. However, it was a big win for two actresses Monday night who took home an Emmy and gave an emotional and inspiring acceptance speech.

Niecy Nash-Betts won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her role as Glenda Cleveland in Netflix's Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.

"I’m a winner, baby!" she said at the beginning of her acceptance speech. "Thank you to the most high for this divine moment. Thank you, Ryan Murphy, for seeing me. Evan Peters, I love you. Netflix, every single person who voted for me — thank you. And my better half, who picked me up when I was gutted from this work, thank you."

"And you know who I wanna thank?" she asked. "I wanna thank me. For believing in me, and doing what they said I could not do. And I wanna say to myself in front of all you beautiful people: 'Go on, girl, with your bad self. You did that!'"

Quinta Brunson had a historic win at the Emmys, becoming the second Black woman (and the first in over 40 years) to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Janine Teague in Abbott Elementary. The last Black woman to win the award was when The Jeffersons star Isabel Sanford won the award in 1981.

"I love making Abbott Elementary so much, and I am so happy to be able to live my dream and act out comedy," Brunson said as she accepted her award.

Brunson is a two-time Emmy winner, she previously won in 2022 for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series for her work on Abbott Elementary.

The 75th annual Primetime Emmy Awards truly featured something for everyone on TV's biggest night. (And yes, it is also being called the 2023 Emmy Awards despite taking place in 2024. Remember the writer and actor strikes?)

Anyway, considering the milestone anniversary of the Emmys, the ceremony featured a number of fun cast reunions. These reunions were from some of the biggest, most influential shows in television history. Among the shows to reunite included Cheers, The Sopranos, Two and a Half Men, Martin, Ally McBeal and Grey's Anatomy. The cast of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia also appeared, but we don't consider their appearance to be a "reunion" since the show is still on the air.

There were many big and historic moments from the evening. For the first time ever, two Black women won Best Lead Actress and Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, with Quinta Brunson and Ayo Edebiri winning the honors, respectively. In fact, The Hollywood Reporter noted the 2023 Emmys tied the record for most winning actors of color. In addition to Brunson and Edebiri, other actors of color to take home Emmy Awards included Steven Yeun, Ali Wong and Niecy Nash-Betts.

On top of that history, with his win for Outstanding Variety Special (Live), Elton John finally became an EGOT winner. The historic win caps off quite the past few years for Sir Elton, who wrapped up his epic farewell world tour.

Overall, the shows that were the big winners of the night were Succession, The Bear and Beef. HBO Max was the streamer/network that won the most awards with 31. According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Warner Bros. Discovery submitted all of its programming as 'HBO Max' titles as the TV Academy permits companies to designate the platforms as they see fit."

Keep scrolling for the 2023 Emmy Awards winners list.

Andor
Better Call Saul
The Crown
House of the Dragon
The Last of Us
Succession – WINNER
The White Lotus
Yellowjackets

Abbott Elementary
Barry
The Bear – WINNER
Jury Duty
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Only Murders in the Building
Ted Lasso
Wednesday

Jeff Bridges, The Old Man
Brian Cox, Succession
Kieran Culkin, Succession – WINNER
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us
Jeremy Strong, Succession

Sharon Horgan, Bad Sisters
Melanie Lynskey, Yellowjackets
Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid's Tale
Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us
Keri Russell, The Diplomat
Sarah Snook, Succession – WINNER

Bill Hader, Barry
Jason Segel, Shrinking
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso
Jeremy Allen White, The Bear – WINNER

Christina Applegate, Dead to Me
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary – WINNER
Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face
Jenna Ortega, Wednesday

F. Murray Abraham, The White Lotus
Nicholas Braun, Succession
Michael Imperioli, The White Lotus
Theo James, The White Lotus
Matthew Macfadyen, Succession – WINNER
Alan Ruck, Succession
Will Sharp, The White Lotus
Alexander Skarsgård, Succession

Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus – WINNER
Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown
Meghann Fahy, The White Lotus
Sabrina Impacciatore, The White Lotus
Aubrey Plaza, The White Lotus
Rhea Seehorn, Better Call Saul
J. Smith-Cameron, Succession
Simona Tabasco, The White Lotus

Anthony Carrigan, Barry
Phil Dunster, Ted Lasso
Brett Goldstein, Ted Lasso
James Marsden, Jury Duty
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear – WINNER
Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary
Henry Winkler, Barry

Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear – WINNER
Janelle James, Abbott Elementary
Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary
Juno Temple, Ted Lasso
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso
Jessica Williams, Shrinking

Beef – WINNER
Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Daisy Jones & The Six
Fleishman Is in Trouble
Obi-Wan Kenobi

Taron Egerton, Blackbird
Kumail Nanjiani, Welcome to Chippendales
Evan Peters, Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Daniel Radcliffe, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Michael Shannon, George & Tammy
Steven Yeun, Beef – WINNER

Lizzy Caplan, Fleishman Is in Trouble
Jessica Chastain, George & Tammy
Dominique Fishback, Swarm
Riley Keough, Daisy Jones & the Six
Kathryn Hahn, Tiny Beautiful Things
Ali Wong, Beef – WINNER

Murray Bartlett, Welcome to Chippendales
Paul Walter Hauser, Black Bird – WINNER
Richard Jenkins, Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Joseph Lee, Beef
Ray Liotta, Black Bird
Young Mazino, Beef
Jesse Plemons, Love & Death

Annaleigh Ashford, Welcome to Chippendales
Maria Bello, Beef
Claire Danes, Fleishman Is in Trouble
Juliette Lewis, Welcome to Chippendales
Camila Morrone, Daisy Jones & the Six
Niecy Nash-Betts, Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story – WINNER
Merritt Wever, Tiny Beautiful Things

Murray Bartlett, The Last of Us
James Cromwell, Succession
Lamar Johnson, The Last of Us
Arian Moayed, Succession
Nick Offerman, The Last of Us – WINNER
Keivonn Montreal Woodard, The Last of Us

Hiam Abbass, Succession
Cherry Jones, Succession
Melanie Lynskey, The Last of Us
Storm Reid, The Last of Us – WINNER
Anna Torv, The Last of Us
Harriet Walter, Succession

Becky Ann Baker, Ted Lasso
Quinta Brunson, Saturday Night Live
Taraji P. Henson, Abbott Elementary
Judith Light, Poker Face – WINNER
Sarah Niles, Ted Lasso
Harriet Walter, Ted Lasso

Jon Bernthal, The Bear
Luke Kirby, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Nathan Lane, Only Murders in the Building
Pedro Pascal, Saturday Night Live
Oliver Platt, The Bear
Sam Richardson, Ted Lasso – WINNER

Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas
Fire Island
Hocus Pocus 2
Prey
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story – WINNER

The Amazing Race
RuPaul's Drag Race – WINNER
Survivor
Top Chef
The Voice

Mayim Bialik, Jeopardy!
Steve Harvey, Family Feud
Ken Jennings, Jeopardy!
Keke Palmer, Password – WINNER
Pat Sajak, Wheel of Fortune

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah – WINNER
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Late Night with Seth Meyers
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
The Problem with Jon Stewart

A Black Lady Sketch Show
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – WINNER
Saturday Night Live

The Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show Starring Rihanna
Chris Rock: Selective Outrage
Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium – WINNER
The Oscars
75th Annual Tony Awards

Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love
John Mulaney: Baby J – WINNER
Lizzo: Live in Concert
Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music & Laughter
Trevor Noah: I Wish You Would
Wanda Sykes: I'm an Entertainer