How Quinta Brunson Really Felt About Jimmy Kimmel Hogging the Stage at the Emmys
Jimmy Kimmel has landed in hot water after his sketch at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, Sept. 12. Many viewers took to social media to criticize the late-night talk show host for crowding the stage as Quinta Brunson accepted her award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. But is Brunson just as outraged? Here’s what happened between Quinta Brunson and Jimmy Kimmel at the Emmys and what the two stars had to say about it after the show.
Jimmy Kimmel faced backlash at the Emmys for lying on the stage as Quinta Brunson accepted her award
It all started when Kimmel and Will Arnett walked onto the stage to present the writing award — well, sort of. Arnett dragged Kimmel onto the stage, joking that he had passed out after drinking too much because it was the “13th time in a row that he’s lost, and he just got into the skinny margaritas back there.” The audience laughed, but Kimmel might have taken the prank too far.
After Arnett announced Brunson as the winner, she approached the stage and told Kimmel that he could get up because she had won. However, he continued to lie there, forcing the Abbott Elementary writer to share the spotlight with Kimmel as she gave her acceptance speech.
Many viewers immediately jumped to Brunson’s defense on social media, calling out Kimmel for rude behavior.
“Quinta Brunson deserved better than giving her acceptance over Jimmy Kimmel’s ‘dead’ body,” one Twitter user wrote.
If #QuintaBrunson stepping over #JimmyKimmel, who literally laid in her spotlight on the day she won an Emmy, isn’t a metaphor for what it means to be a WOC in a white man’s world, I don’t know what is,” another person tweeted.
Quinta Brunson said the bit ‘didn’t bother’ her — but she might ‘punch him’ later
After the awards show, Brunson spoke with the press about the moment on stage. Apparently, there’s no bad blood between her and Kimmel.
“I know Jimmy Kimmel, and I don’t know, I feel like the bit didn’t bother me that much. I don’t know what the internet thinks,” Brunson said, per Variety.
The comedian added that Kimmel supported her when she started Abbott Elementary and called him “one of the comedy godfathers.” She was also happy to see Kimmel with Arnett on stage, as she’s a “huge fan.”
With that said, Brunson is set to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday, Sept. 14, and she joked that she could get back at him then.
“Tomorrow, maybe I’ll be mad at him,” she said. “Maybe I’ll punch him. I don’t know. We’ll see what happens.”
Jimmy Kimmel praised Quinta Brunson after her historic Emmys win
Kimmel has yet to directly address the Emmys stunt. However, he did praise Brunson for her historic win at the Emmys. She became the third Black writer to win Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series, and only the second Black woman to win. Kimmel called Brunson “unbelievably talented.”
“I saw her pilot before it came out on ABC, and I wrote to her, and I was like, ‘I don’t know how we got this, but congratulations. You made a pilot that any network would be ecstatic to get,'” Kimmel told Entertainment Tonight. “She’s a lovely person as well.”
Fans will have to tune in to Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday night to see if Brunson gets revenge on Kimmel for his prank.
