The 76th Emmy Awards took place on September 15 in Los Angeles and the night marked some major wins for the LGBTQ community. The ceremony was hosted by the real-life father-son duo Eugene and Dan Levy from the GLAAD Media Award and Emmy-winning Schitt’s Creek.
The duo did an excellent job of piloting the ceremony with bits that included taking full advantage of the fact that they are father and son and there was also Schitt’s Creek reunion with Annie Murphy and Catherine O’Hara, who presented the the final award of the evening for Outstanding Comedy to Hacks (more on that later!).
One of the memorable moments was when Dan praised Paramount+ and Showtime’s Fellow Travelers stars Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer for “proving that you can be nominated for playing gay, even if you’re not straight.”
His father, who hosts The Reluctant Traveler With Eugene Levy, chimed in: “I’m particularly proud of my streamer, Apple TV+, which continues to proudly and visibly align itself with the LGBTQ community.” Dan hilariously corrected him “That’s not what the ‘+‘ stands for,” adding that the plus sign in streamers like Paramount+, Disney+, and ESPN+ have nothing to do with the LGBTQ community.
Jodie Foster landed her first Emmy win after four nominations for her role in True Detective: Night Country. It also marked the first performer to win an acting Emmy for the HBO franchise. Backstage in the press room, Foster praised being part of this particular True Detective team as an “extraordinary feeling”.
“You understand how great it is to serve other people, other actors,” she said. “I just feel so good. We did get 19 nominations… and we are this crazy family that lived through the wage and dark in the Arctic.”
Foster thanked her co-star Kali Reis in her acceptance speech on stage and she was emotional after the win in the media room adding, “I wasn’t just by myself, thinking about my navel. It was just not about our team, but also about Indigenous people and how we can visualize them in our culture, and this allowed them to be central. And for me, that’s just the best part of our business: to allow these voices to center.”
Another big winner of the evening was the Netflix breakout hit Baby Reindeer. In addition to winning the top prize for Outstanding Limited Series, show creator and star Richard Gadd won for Outstanding Writing and Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie while his co-star Jessica Gunning won for Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
“I think the thing that’s incredible about Richard’s writing is that this character is so unique and unusual,” Gunning said of her role as Martha backstage after her win. “For me, I just kind of connected with her…I never saw her as a villain — I just saw her as a complicated, lonely character.”
On TV, Gadd took the stage with words of encouragement for people who are struggling saying, “Follow your heart, and the rest will fall into place.” He also took on the greater system of Hollywood when it comes to telling original stories like Baby Reindeer, saying “You don’t need catchall storytelling to have a hit“.
He added, “Dare to fail in order to achieve.”
Toting his three Emmys backstage, he was joined by Gunning, actress and Emmy nominee Nava Mau, and the rest of the Baby Reindeer team backstage. When asked about the controversy and backlash that tethered itself to the series, Gadd responded that negativity is inevitable but pointed out that in the UK, there has been an 80 percent increase for sexual abuse charities, 47 percent of stalking charities on the increase, among other notable post-Baby Reindeer stats.
“Nobody seems to be talking about how the show is doing some phenomenal things worldwide,” he punctuated.
After GLAAD was honored with the award last year, Greg Berlanti was presented with the Governors Award by Fellow Travelers star Matt Bomer and Dawson’s Creek alum Joshua Jackson.
Bomer and Jackson were introduced by the Dawson’s Creek theme song and rightfully so. Berlanti was a writer on the popular teen drama which included the first on-screen same-sex kiss on primetime TV. Berlanti also paved the way for the first legal gay marriage (Brothers & Sisters) and trans superhero (Supergirl) — all on primetime TV.
During his acceptance speech, he said that when he was a kid growing up it was hard for him to connect with queer kids — but he could tell when people were queer because they liked “Dynasty, Dallas and could name all four of The Golden Girls.”
When the AIDS epidemic was happening he saw queer people dying, but he also saw himself represented by those protesting in the streets. With this, and being inspired by Jim Henson, Berlanti started to flourish. “You are loved and you are worthy and you have a story to tell,” he said.
The Traitors took the Outstanding Reality Competition series, taking the throne from RuPaul’s Drag Race. During the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremonies on September 7 and 8, The Traitors host Alan Cumming, sporting signature tartan and a medal that included colors of the trans flag, also won an Emmy for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program ending RuPaul’s winning streak.
Cumming and the creators stayed tight-lipped about the third season of The Traitors in the media room. However, a journalist inquired about his fashion for the upcoming season and asked Cumming, “How are you going to top yourself?” To which the actor answered cheekily, “One can only dream!”
Hacks scored the Outstanding Lead Actress trophy for legend Jean Smart who said she was “truly shocked” and “grateful” for the win.
The HBO series also scored Outstanding Writing For a Comedy Series and a surprise win for Outstanding Comedy Series backstage at the end of the night, Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky were still in shock after winning the top prize to put their feelings into words on the spot in the media room — but they did give us a tidbit about the forthcoming season, saying that it will take place 20 minutes after the end of the third season.
Other notable winners included Ripley director Steven Zaillian, who won for Outstanding Directing for Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
During the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremonies on September 7 and 8, Songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul achieved EGOT status when they scored an Emmy for Outstanding Song for “Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It?” from Only Murders in the Building, which the duo co-wrote with Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Meanwhile, Amber Noizumi and Michael Green took home the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program for the Netflix adult animated series Blue Eye Samurai.