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Some historic snubs went down at last night’s 2021 Emmy Awards

Hollywood continues to shut out actors of colour and reinforce calls of #EmmysSoWhite.
September 20, 2021 1:25 p.m. EST
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Sunday night’s Emmy Awards were full of joy (Ted Lasso) and dramatic history (The Crown), but there were also some less joyous, equally historic snubs that went down. And the internet is definitely feeling it today.

Heading into the show, most insiders expected Ted Lasso, The Crown and Mare of Easttown to win big. But not many people figured those three shows would essentially sweep the night in their own respective comedy, drama and limited-series categories. Typically, awards shows are all about spreading the love, but surprisingly many notable series—and all racialized actors—were left in the cold.

A historically big loss

The Handmaid’s Tale (stream now on Crave) received 21 nominations heading into this year’s awards for its high-stakes, game-changing fourth season. However, it walked away with zero of those awards, making it the new record-holder for the most losses in a single year.

Previously, Mad Men held that title, when it lost all 17 of its nominations back in 2012. It’s not lost on everyone that Elisabeth Moss is a common denominator, having lost Lead Actress awards on both shows during those historic years.

Sure, Moss was nominated and lost six times for her role as Peggy on Mad Men, but let’s not forget that she also won the award for her role as June/Offred on the first season of The Handmaid’s Tale. Maybe voters just weren’t feeling the darker themes of Handmaid’s this year given everything else going on in the world?

You be the judge.

No foresight when it came to this big WandaVision loss

Another show that had a lot of buzz heading into the Emmys was WandaVision, the MCU limited series that had everyone talking when it debuted earlier this year. We get that January feels like a really long time ago at this point, but apparently it was super far from Emmy voters’ minds, because the show lost 20 of its 23 nominations.

What really grinded gears on Sunday night though wasn’t the fact that Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen lost to Ewan McGregor (Halston) and Kate Winslet (Mare of Easttown). It was that Kathryn Hahn didn’t win supporting actress in a limited series, and that the win surprisingly went to Julianne Nicholson (Mare of Easttown) instead. Naturally, fans revolted.

Even The New York Times couldn’t believe Hahn didn’t win. 

No love for Lovecraft Country

Another notable snub from Sunday night was Michael K. Williams, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 54. He had been a frontrunner in the supporting actor in a drama category for his role as Montrose Freeman on Lovecraft Country (stream now on Crave). In fact, the now-cancelled series lost 16 of its 18 nominations, which people weren’t happy about. 

Some viewers found solace in the fact that Kerry Washington gave Williams a shout-out while presenting the Supporting Actor category, at least.

She called him a, “Brilliantly talented actor and a generous human being who left us far too soon,” and assured everyone that his spirit was there with them in that moment.

Basically, everyone who isn't cis, straight and white

The Flight Attendant, which was nominated for nine awards, was also mostly shut out. The show’s sole win was in the original theme music for its catchy opening sequence, meaning neither the show nor producer/star Kaley Cuoco walked away with a trophy. Rosie Perez also lost in the supporting actress category to Ted Lasso’s Hannah Waddingham.

Other notable snubs included Bridgerton and I May Destroy you. Michaela Coel (who created and starred in the latter), did get recognition for outstanding writing, and naturally she gave one heck of an acceptance speech, dedicating her win to, “Every single survivor of sexual assault.” Still, there were many who would have liked her to win an acting award, too.

[video_embed id='2270089']Michaela Coel Emmy acceptance clip [/video_embed]

And then there was Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad, the critically hailed Prime Video series that didn’t take home any awards despite its seven nominations in the limited or anthology series categories. 

On one hand, there are only ever going to be so many winners at an awards show like this. On the other, the winners on Sunday night were once again not representative of the change that Hollywood keeps promising to make. That led to more than a few viewers calling out the awards show, especially since there were so many talented racialized nominees to choose from.

So... how long until they "promise to do better next year"? 

The 2021 Emmys went down on September 19. Click here for a full list of winners. 

[video_embed id='2270087']Debbie Allen Emmy acceptance clip [/video_embed]

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