Black excellence was rewarded at the 2021 Creative Arts Emmys
Winners included hit shows Pose, Lovecraft Country, and A Black Lady Sketch Show
Several works of Black visual art were celebrated Saturday as the 2021 Creative Arts Emmy Awards kicked off at L.A. Live in Los Angeles.
Hit FX series Pose began the festivities with a bang, winning the first three consecutive trophies at the opening installment of the three-part award ceremony.
The popular queer drama, which wrapped up its third and final season in June, was awarded for Outstanding Contemporary Hairstyling, Outstanding Contemporary Makeup and Outstanding Contemporary Costumes.
“Pose demanded visibility and let the trans community worldwide be seen with love,” said Department Head Hairstylist Barry Lee Moe who accepted the award for Contemporary Hairstylist.
“This is for the trans people who have felt disregarded in this world and yet have found the courage and strength to push through. This award is for those trans human beings whose lives have been cut short by ignorance and violence,” he added.
Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Steven Canals and launched in 2018, Pose is the first scripted television series on a major network to showcase a cast primarily made up of Black and brown queer people—specifically transgender women. The cast includes the likes of Angelica Ross, Billy Porter, Charlayne Woodard, Dominique Jackson, Dyllon Burnside, Evan Peters, Indya Moore and Hailie Sahar.
Despite earning a total of 20 Emmy nominations to date, the show’s lone Emmy victory before Saturday belonged to Porter, who made history in 2019 as the first openly gay actor to win Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Pray Tell.
HBO’s hit 2020 series Lovecraft Country took home its first Emmy for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series. While accepting the award, Sound Supervisor Tim Kimmel paid tribute to recently deceased cast member Michael K. Williams.
“As the one who did get to work with him, I was very sad to hear of his passing. He was such a great part of the show, and many other shows as well,” Kimmel said backstage. “A great person to work with, really a professional of his craft, so I was really sad to hear of his passing.”
The recently-canceled drama follows army veteran Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors), his friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett) and his uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) as they embark on a cross-country road trip through Jim Crow-era America.
The Emmy for Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming was awarded to HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show, created and executive produced by Robin Thede with executive production from Issa Rae, starring Quinta Brunson, Ashley Nicole Black, Gabrielle Dennis and more.
Disney+’s Black Is King and IFC’s Sherman’s Showcase Black History Month Spectacular comprised two of the three honorees for Outstanding Costumes for Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Programming.
The visual album Black Is King, executive produced and released by Beyonce in 2020, is based on the songs from the 2019 album, The Lion King: The Gift, which the Grammy-winning singer executive produced as part of the soundtrack for last year’s theatrical remake of The Lion King.
The hour-long special Sherman’s Showcase, co-created by Diallo Riddle and Bashir Salahuddin premiered on Juneteenth (Jun. 19) 2020, and showcased and celebrated Black icons throughout history.
theGrio’s Kia Morgan-Smith and Matthew Allen contributed to this report.
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