The 74th Emmy Awards were held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Monday night (September 12th), hosted by Saturday Night Live‘s Kenan Thompson and airing on NBC and Peacock. The big winners of the evening were The White Lotus, Ted Lasso, and Succession.
Succession was nominated for 25 Emmy Awards and took home the award for Outstanding Drama. Ted Lasso won Outstanding Comedy and The White Lotus won Best Limited Series. Jason Sudeikis won Best Actor in a Comedy series for his work in Ted Lasso as well.
Jennifer Coolidge danced to the cutoff music when she nabbed her first Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for The White Lotus. Murray Bartlett also took home his first Emmy for Best Supporting Actor, and Mike White won back-to-back Emmys for Best Writer and Director in a Comedy Series for The White Lotus as well.
Lee Jung-jae took home the Emmy for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for his role in Squid Game, becoming the first Asian actor to win the trophy in that category. Zendaya won Best Actress in a Drama for Euphoria, becoming the youngest two-time Emmy winner in history.
Jean Smart won the award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series. She thanked someone “for the Botox” at the end of her acceptance speech because, as she said, she “lost a bet.”
The emotional wins of the evening included Lizzo accepting the competition series Emmy for Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls. In her acceptance speech, she said, “When I was a little girl, all I wanted to see was me in the media. Someone fat like me. Black like me. Beautiful like me. If I could go back and tell little Lizzo something, I would be like, ‘You’re going to see that person, but bitch, it’s going to have to be you.”
Abbott Elementary star Sheryl Lee Ralph performed Dianne Reeves‘ “Endangered Species” when she accepted her award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. “I am an endangered species/ But I sing no victim’s song/ I am a woman I am an artist/ And I know where my voice belongs,” she sang, stunning the audience.
Sarah Paulson and Shonda Rhimes presented Geena Davis with the Governor’s Award for the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which strives to create gender balance in the industry. Highlighting her 40-year acting career, a montage of Davis’ roles over the years was shown, including in Thelma and Louise, A League of Their Own, and Grey’s Anatomy.
The evening’s presenters included Oprah, Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers, Kerry Washington, Gael Garcia Bernal, Lizzo, Chandra Wilson, Freddie Highmore, Rosario Dawson, Kelly Clarkson, and Pete Davidson.
John Legend performed his beautiful new song “Pieces” for the In Memoriam segment that honored Betty White, Sidney Poitier, James Caan, Louie Anderson, and Ray Liotta, among others.
On the comedy front, Thompson joked that Zendaya was too old for Leonardo DiCaprio. “26 is a weird age in Hollywood. Young enough to play a high school student, but too old to date Leonardo DiCaprio,” he said. He also referenced the Oscars slap when he commented on Regina Hall‘s appearance at the award show. “Surprised she’s at another award show — Girl, you brave,” he joked.
Bowen Yang also joked about the slap when he said to Thompson, “Did you see the Oscars? So many things can go wrong when you host an award show.”
See the full list of winners below:
Best Comedy
“Ted Lasso” (Apple TV+)
Best Drama
“Succession” (HBO)
Best Limited Series
“The White Lotus” (HBO)
Best Actress, Comedy
Jean Smart, “Hacks”
Best Actor, Comedy
Jason Sudeikis, “Ted Lasso”
Best Actress, Drama
Zendaya, “Euphoria”
Best Actor, Drama
Lee Jung-jae, “Squid Game”
Best Actress, Limited Series or TV Movie
Amanda Seyfried, “The Dropout”
Best Actor, Limited Series or TV Movie
Michael Keaton, “Dopesick”
Supporting Actress, Comedy
Sheryl Lee Ralph, “Abbott Elementary”
Supporting Actor, Comedy
Brett Goldstein, “Ted Lasso”
Supporting Actress, Drama
Julia Garner, “Ozark”
Supporting Actor, Drama
Matthew Macfadyen, “Succession”
Supporting Actress, Limited Series or a Movie
Jennifer Coolidge, “The White Lotus”
Supporting Actor, Limited Series or Movie
Murray Bartlett, “The White Lotus”
Variety Talk Series
“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver”
Variety Sketch Series
“Saturday Night Live”
Reality Competition Program
“Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls”
Writing for a Comedy Series
Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary” (“Pilot”)
Writing for a Drama Series
Jesse Armstrong, “Succession” (“All the Bells Say”)
Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Drama Special
Mike White, “The White Lotus”
Directing for a Comedy Series
MJ Delaney, “Ted Lasso” (“No Weddings and a Funeral”)
Directing for a Drama Series
Hwang Dong-hyuk, “Squid Game” (“Red Light, Green Light”)
Directing for a Limited Series or Movie
Mike White, “The White Lotus”
Documentary Or Nonfiction Series
“The Beatles: Get Back” (Disney+)
Documentary Or Nonfiction Special
“George Carlin’s American Dream” (HBO)
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series
“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” (HBO)
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special
“Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel”
Outstanding Variety Special, Pre-Recorded
“Adele One Night Only” (CBS)
Outstanding Variety Special (Live)
“The Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show” (NBC)
BROADCAST AUDIO
In clip one, Amanda Seyfried Accepts The Award For Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
- “Thanks. This is a really nice feeling, counting me down, it's a really nice feeling. Thanks, Television Academy and thanks for recognizing me among these amazing actors and the creator of the show, all the best. Michael Showalter, Rebecca Taylor, Victoria, everybody at Hulu and Searchlight TV, brand-new, 20th Century Fox, and our cast and crew. It was really hard but it was the best time of my life. Of course my agent for 16 years, Abby Blewstone, Scott, Maury, Gary, last but not least my family, hi Bubs, you have to go to bed now, thanks. Thank you my family, my mom, my husband, my dad, and my kids and my dog Finn. Thanks so much.”
In clip two, Brett Goldstein Accepts The Award For Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
- “I am a very big girl. Thank you so much. I'm going to try not to swear. Thank you to the Academy and Apple, thank you to Jason and Phil and Brendan and special boy Joe Kelly for creating this magical thing and letting me a little part of it. I would never take it for granted, it's incredible. To the cast, my fellow nominees, the hardest part about being in Ted Lasso is being in a scene with anyone from this cast and not ruining it by saying, God, you're good. Last time I was here, I was told not to swear, and I did and i am sorry. And it meant the feed got cut at home in the UK. My family never got to hear me say this… thank you for this second chance mom, dad… I really do. I'm so sorry thank you very much. Thank you.”
In clip three, Geena Davis Accepts The Governors Award On Behalf Of The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.
- “Thank you so much, I'm tripping over my own dress. We want to thank the Academy, TV board of governors for this incredible honor, this recognition of our mission and our achievements means so much to Madeleine and I and our team who are here in numbers tonight. Tonight is about honoring the best of television as you know, as Lizzo knows, television can often directly impact how people see themselves and judge their value in the world. And in the time since I launched the institute, we've made a great deal of progress but still there's more work to do, of course. Many of the content creators that we're partnered with are here tonight, many of you. So thank you all for your support. And if there's anybody else that thinks we might be able to help you. Just call us. Thank you very much. Thank you.” (1:01 OC: . . .much. Thank you.)
In clip four, Host Kenan Thompsons Opening Monologue.
- “Thank you thank you very much. Welcome. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Thank you, thank you thank you. Thank you very much. It is I, the mayor of show business, Kenan Thompson. Well, it's finally here, TV's most special night where the biggest stars of television celebrate other stars of television while all of you at home watch on television. It's the Emmy Awards. Tonight is a celebration, it's a celebration because for everyone in this room, TV is more than just how we make a living, it's also how our agents make a living. So tonight we come together to honor the greatest invention in the history of mankind, television. I mean, if it weren't for TV, what would we do in our free time, read books? No one in this room has read a book in the last 50 years. Watch TikTok you mean tiny vertical television or have sex gross. TV is all we have, from Netflix and chill to Paramount Plus and eating dinner alone and what sound fills us with more joy and anticipation than the familiar opening refrain of legally cleared TV theme songs. We've always been able to sing to them but we've never been able to dance to them. Until now.” (1:44 OC: . . .them. Until now.)
In clip five, Jason Sudeikis Accepts The Award For Outstanding Comedy Series.
- “Oh, boy, oh, boy. Wait, we just got here, we're down to 30 seconds. Thank you so much to everyone who watches the show, thank you for everybody who voted on the show, thank you for everybody that works on the show, this is only an eighth of them. Everybody in the offices of Warner Brothers, Apple, Doozer, that answers the calls, everybody in production, our Covid squad, season 2, was huge. We didn't have a single shutdown because of what you men and women did for us. Everybody in post production that helped us out building these amazing soccer stadiums, football stadiums around us. The show is about good and evil. It's about the truth and lies. This show is about all that stuff but it's mostly about our response to those things and your response to our show has been overwhelming. They can hear all that, you know, this mic is low and far but it's super sensitive. But thank you, again, so much. Otis, I love you very much, yeah, we'll stay for season 3 at some point.” (1:12 OC: . . .3 at some point.)
In clip six, Jason Sudeikis Accepts The Award For Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.
- “Oh, nuts. Okay so, thank you. I mean, I have sat at home and watched award shows. My mom loves award shows, I always bust people's balls, that get up and say I didn't have an idea. I really didn't. An amazing group I was nominated with so I'm not overly prepared but I did take classes at the Second City. So I'm going to go for it. Thank you to my parents, Dan and Kathy, who I just mentioned, one of them. Thank you to my incredible… our incredible cast. It's a joy to get to work with you guys, you guys are amazing. Thank you to Apple, to Warner Brothers, to Doozer, everybody who helps us out and makes the show. Thank you so much to the people who watch the show and dig it as much as we dig making it. I'm truly surprised and flattered. Thank you.” (1:09 OC: . . .flattered. Thank you.)
In clip seven, Jean Smart Accepts The Award For Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
- “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you so much. I'm more nervous than I was. Thank you for a second time honoring this show. I have to tell you, I'm so blown away by our writers who not only matched season 1 but surpassed it. Season 2 has been a litmus test. Oh, my God, our crew, our AD, they went above and above and above and beyond, supporting actors who just added so much to our show. And all our other nominees and my darling cohort Hannah and wonderful Christopher McDonald, and Caitlin who plays my darling daughter. Rachel Brosnahan, one of my fabulous fellow nominees, she's very classy, she sent this box of designer cookies, they were like five pounds each. I thought that was so classy until I realized she was hoping I wouldn't be able to fit into a single dress in Hollywood. Thanks anyway. One quick thing, and thank you, HBO, Universal, one quick story. I didn't realize the breadth of the appeal of our show we were shooting at a mall and there were three little boys there, they were 10 or 11, and they went, look it's Debra Vance. I was like, hi, you should not be watching this show. Anyway, thank you so much, I love you Forrest and Connor. One more thing, I promised, thank you for the Botox. Thank you.” (1:52 OC: . . .Botox. Thank you.)
In clip eight, Jennifer Coolidge Accepts The Award For Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
- “Hey, hi. Wow. Thank you. Gosh, what a night. I just want to say to my fellow nominees, just to be in your company, it's incredible and, you know, I just want to say, you know, I took a lavender bath tonight, and right before the show, and it made me swell up inside my dress. I'm having a hard time speaking. But anyway, I… this is so thrilling, because, you know, well, first I've got to… what happened. Hold on. Wait. I love you, I didn't forget you, Dave. Then Casey Boyd at HBO and Francesca and Norris and thank you to my amazing team. Wait, hold on. No, this is a once in a lifetime thing and I'm full, I'm full. Wait, wait hold on. Jacob Fenton, Jonathan Weinstein, Tiffany… Wait, hold on okay.” (1:36 OC: . . .Wait, hold on okay.)
In clip nine, Jerrod Carmichael Accepts The Award For Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special.
- “Wow, that's my song, y'all. Hey. I wanted to win. I'm happy I won. Thank you very, very much. Bobby, I love you, thank you very, very much. I don't know… look, I made something that was of great personal consequence to me and this definitely contributes to the meaning of it. Thank you very much to everybody. Nina, I appreciate it. I'm going to go home, I'm not a sore winner but I'm going to go home because I can't top this right now.”
In clip ten, Jesse Armstrong Accepts The Award for Outstanding Drama Series.
- “Our time is going, we better get into it. That was enough hugging. Big week for Succession. New king in the UK this for us. Evidently a little more voting involved in our winning than Prince Charles. Keep it royalist, keep it royalist. I'm not saying that we're more legitimate in our position than he is, we'll leave that to our people, we are incredibly grateful to have this, it's a wonderful honor. This group is extraordinary. It's a team effort, starting with the engine room at the right, the producers who support us, the directors led by Mark Mylod, the extraordinary cast, and our amazing crew and HBO who protect and support us, many thanks. Yeah?” (1:05 OC: . . .many thanks. Yeah?)
In clip eleven, John Oliver Accepts The Award For Outstanding Variety Talk Series.
- “Thank you so much, it is a thrill to be here. It's a thrill to meet Steve Martin and Martin Short in the weirdest possible… Thank you to the staff who runs the show, the staff here, the staff back in New York. Thank you to my wife Kate, I love you so much. Thank you to HBO as well, we know how lucky we are to get to make the exact show we want, exactly the way we want to make it, whether it's a Korean Subway drama or staging an elaborate cabbage wedding. We know how lucky we are, thank you so much. It's staying stop now in big letters. I don't know if it's this speech or in general. Either way, fair point, thank you so much.”
In clip twelve, Julia Garner Accepts The Award For Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
- “Okay. Wow. First of all, I want to thank the Television Academy, I want to thank everybody at Netflix and MRC. I want to thank our show runner and all the writers in the writers room, thank you for writing Ruth. She changed my life. I want to thank Jason Bateman for taking a chance on me. And Lora Linney, who you've been such a guiding light to me, I just feel really grateful, really grateful to be here. I have eight seconds left to be here and to play Ruth and to be with such amazing, beautiful artists. I love you all and now I've got to go, thank you all so much, I love you all.”
In clip thirteen, Lee Jung-jae Accepts The Award For Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
- “Thank you so much, thank you so much. First, I would like to thank God above. Thank you to the Television Academy. Thank you to Netflix and thank you to the director for making realistic problems we all face come to life so creatively on the screen with a great script and amazing visuals. Thank you. Thank you, Squid Game team. Thank you to everyone watching in Korea. Thank you.” (1:02 OC: . . .Korea. Thank you.)
In clip fourteen, Lizzo Accepts The Award For Outstanding Competition Program.
- “I mean my big girls to come to the stage right now, right now. I want to say thank you to the Emmys and the Emmy voters, first of all, I'm very emotional. And the trophy is nice but my emotion is for these people who are on the stage with me, the stories that they shared they're not that unique. They just don't get the platform telling stories. Let's just tell more stories. When I was a little girl, all I wanted to see was me in the media. Someone fat like me, black like me, beautiful like me. If I could go back and tell little Lizzo something, I would be like, you're going to see that person but… it's going to have to be you. Where are my big girls? Come, come. One year ago, one year ago, these women were filming this television show that would change their lives forever, they are Emmy award winning superstars who are going on a world tour make some noise for my big girls. I love you so much, oh, my God. God bless y'all. This is for the big girls. Hey. Thank you so much.” (1:53 OC: . . .Thank you so much.)
In clip fifteen, Lorne Michaels Accepts The Award For Outstanding Variety Sketch Series.
- “Well, thank you very much for this. I don't know whether you had it here, but in New York for the last 2 1/2 years we had this pandemic, it was really tough doing shows. And lots of people who could have left didn't and kind of stuck together and went through it together and there's something in the DNA of the show, when it's 11:30 on Saturday, we show up and I want to thank them all for showing up and standing here, thank you.”
In clip sixteen, Matthew Macfayden Accepts The Award For Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
- “Golly, okay, thank you so much, to the Television Academy, I'm deeply flattered and thrilled to bits. I must say it really is such a pleasure and a privilege for me to play this bonkers gift of a role in this wonderful show. My admiration and my gratitude to Jesse Armstrong and his remarkable writing team is boundless. They are truly amazing, they just are. Thank you. Our brilliant producers at HBO, our gang of directors, and of course to the most talented and lovely crew and cast I can imagine. I'm very lucky to have you and my darling Keely, I'm very lucky to have you too. Thank you. Thank you very much.” (1:04 OC: . . .Thank you very much.)
In clip seventeen, Michael Keaton Accepts The Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
- “You have about 90 of these, don't you? I have to tell you first of all, my face hurts so much from all the fake smiling I've been doing. Thanks to the great folks at Disney and Hulu and everybody at that table, this is one of the special projects I've ever worked on. It means something, so thanks a lot, it's wonderful, I'm very, very grateful. When I was a little, little kid, very small, my dad wins something at a raffle, and he brings it home and it's a little black and white TV, literally about that big. And we kind of lived out in the country. And sometimes people, neighbors would come down and actually watch it when I saw this thing, this was my face from age maybe 5 to 10 and I could not take my eyes off it, it was magic and I watched all of the cowboy shows and especially the comedies, the gangster shows, I fell in love with it and I would go and I would reenact these scenes or create my own scenes. My parents and brothers and sisters would watch me out the window and to this day, they were never demeaning, they were never dismissive they never looked down upon it they never made fun of me. In fact that would ask me to reenact scenes for them. My folks weren't exactly patrons of the arts. They weren't patrons of anything, frankly. I want to thank them I want to just thank all those people in my family for never making me feel foolish, because I went on to do that several times myself and that's the thing about feeling foolish and making a fool of yourself and making mistakes there's huge power and merit in that and I'm glad I made a fool of myself over and over and over again. And one thing I want to say, over the years we've all been through tough times. There have been some doubters. I've had some doubters… you know what? We're cool. But I also had those people for all those years when times were up who were the true believers.” (2:28 OC: . . .were the true believers.)
In clip eighteen, Mike White Accepts The Award For Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.
- “I forgot to thank HBO in my other speeches. Casey, Nora, I love you, sorry. I know it's unconditional love but sorry. Mike and I have been talking about the show for over 15 years. It took the shared vision and unwavering trust of Casey Bloys and Nora Skinner to bring it to light. Thank you so much. And to all the other incredibly talented people at HBO, we are so lucky to be a part of your family, to our exceptional cast and crew, you showed up every day in the midst of global uncertainty, away from loved ones, and gave your heart, soul, and passion to the show, we came together as a community to try to make something special. It was through this collective effort we're standing here today. We share this with the entire The White Lotus family, my mom and dad, thank you for your unconditional love and lifetime of sacrifice and I hope you finally forgive me for not being a doctor thank you.” (1:09 OC: . . .being a doctor thank you.)
In clip nineteen, Murray Bartlett Accepts The Award For Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
- “Thank you so much to the Academy for inviting me up here. I'm truly honored. Mike, my God, Mike, thank you for giving me one of the best experiences of my life truly, I adore you and admire you. Thank you. Thank you to our phenomenal cast and crew and producers on The White Lotus. I'm so proud to be part of this group. Thank you to everybody at HBO, Casey, Francesca, Nora, you guys are true champions, thank you to my team, Carolyn, Matt, Trevor, Lucy, Joan, my angel, my amazing team at Relevant, thank you to my family and friends for all your love and support over the years, especially Ahmed, you're a prince, to my P-town family, I love you. To my partner Max, thank you for being my sanctuary and finally, I just want to thank my mom, all the way home in Australia, for giving me the most wonderful foundation of unconditional love and inspiring me to believe that we can all do that for each other. Thank you, mom and thank you for this.” (1:19 OC: . . .thank you for this.)
In clip twenty, Quinta Brunson Accepts The Award For Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.
- “Jimmy, wake up, I won. Jimmy? My goodness, I want to say thank you to ABC, to Disney, to Fox, and to Warner Brothers it takes that many people to make a television show. I need to say thank you to Justin and Patrick, my co-show runners, for believing in a story from four years ago and thinking that it would make a good TV show and I do want to thank Larry Wilmer for teaching me to write television as well as he did I know that's random and in case I am not back up here again, I have to thank my mom, dad, brothers and sisters, my cousins, we would be here forever if I tried to name my cousins and uncles and aunts, my wonderful husband and my incredible cast for helping me to make this show and make the pilot. Thank you.” (1:16 OC: . . .pilot. Thank you.)
In clip twenty one, Sheryl Lee Ralph Accepts The Award For Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
- “I am an endangered species but I sing no victim's song. I am a woman, I am an artist and I know where my voice belongs. To anyone who has ever, ever had a dream and thought your dream wasn't, wouldn't, couldn't come true, I am here to tell you that this is what believing looks like, this is what striving looks like and don't you ever, ever give up on you, because if you get a Quinta Brunson in your corner, if you get a husband like mine in your corner, if you get children like mine in your corner, and if you've got friends like everybody who voted for me, cheered for me, loved me, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” (1:55 OC: . . .Thank you. Thank you.)
In clip twenty two, Zendaya Accepts The Award For Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
- “Hello. This means so much. Thank you so much. To all the incredible actresses in this category, I'm so honored to be beside you, thank you to the incredible, incredible cast and crew of Euphoria. Thank you for making such a safe space to make this very difficult show. I love you all so much, thank you to the Academy, thank you to my friends and family, some of which are here tonight. Thank you to Sam for sharing with me. Thank you for believing in me, even in moments when I didn't believe in myself. Lastly I just want to say, you know, my greatest wish for Euphoria was that it could help heal people and I just want to say thank you to everyone who shared their story with me. I want you to know that anyone who has loved a Rue or feels like you are a Rue, I'm so grateful for your stories and I carry them with me and carry them with her. Thank you so much.” (1:04 OC: . . .you so much.)
