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Emmys Night Of Historic Firsts: Donald Glover Thanks Trump And ‘The Great Algorithm’

Emmys Night Of Historic Firsts: Donald Glover Thanks Trump And ‘The Great Algorithm’

Donald “Childish Gambino” Glover made history Sunday at the 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, becoming the first African American to win Outstanding Director for a Comedy Series for FX’s “Atlanta,” and also taking home Best Actor in a Comedy Series.

While the movie industry has come under increasing pressure over lack of diversity and inequality, TV is credited with doing a better job.

The multi-talented actor/writer/director/rapper/singer united his friends, enemies and the “great algorithm” in a satisfying big thank you:

“I want to thank the city of Atlanta…I want to thank Trump for making Black people No. 1 on the most oppressed list. He’s the reason I’m probably up here….” Glover said on stage at the awards.

He also thanked “the great algorithm that put us all here,” as well as his parents, brother and the writers on the groundbreaking show.

Glover helped create — and stars in — “Atlanta,” a comedy-drama about two cousins navigating their way in the Atlanta rap scene.

“If you listen closely you can hear all of Atlanta screaming right now,” Sylvia Obell wrote in BuzzFeed following the announcement.

Another historic first at the Emmys went to Lena Waithe, who won best writing for a comedy series for the “Thanksgiving” episode of “Master of None,” along with co-writer Aziz Ansari. Waithe’s win made her the first black person to win in the category and also the first black woman to be nominated in the category, which Ansari won last year.

https://twitter.com/IssaRae/status/909598743720108033

The only other time a black actor won best lead actor in a comedy was Robert Guillaume in 1985 for “Benson.” Just three black directors have previously won — in the drama category (Thomas Carter, “Equal Justice”; Eric Laneuville, “I’ll Fly Away”; and Paris Barclay, “NYPD Blue”), Washington Post reported.

Glover was up against comedy actor Jeffrey Tambor, whose work as Pfefferman patriarch-turned-matriarch Maura on Amazon dramedy “Transparent” earned him the trophy the last two years.

Glover was also competing for the Emmy with William H. Macy (“Shameless”), Anthony Anderson (“Black-ish), Aziz Ansari (“Master of None”), Zach Galifianakis (“Baskets”).

Here’s the full list of 2017 Emmy nominees and winners:

Outstanding drama series

“Better Call Saul”
“The Crown”
“The Handmaid’s Tale” *WINNER
“House of Cards”
“Stranger Things”
“This Is Us”
“Westworld”

Outstanding comedy series

“Atlanta”
“Black-ish”
“Master of None”
“Modern Family”
“Silicon Valley”
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
“Veep” *WINNER

Outstanding lead actor in a drama series

Sterling K. Brown, “This Is Us” *WINNER
Anthony Hopkins, “Westworld”
Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”
Matthew Rhys, “The Americans”
Liev Schreiber, “Ray Donovan”
Kevin Spacey, “House of Cards”
Milo Ventimiglia, “This Is Us”

Outstanding lead actress in a drama series

Viola Davis, “How to Get Away With Murder”
Claire Foy, “The Crown”
Elisabeth Moss, “The Handmaid’s Tale” *WINNER
Keri Russell, “The Americans”
Evan Rachel Wood, “Westworld”
Robin Wright, “House of Cards”

Outstanding supporting actor in a drama series

Jonathan Banks, “Better Call Saul”
Ron Cephas Jonas, “This Is Us”
David Harbour, “Stranger Things”
Michael Kelly, “House of Cards”
John Lithgow , “The Crown” * WINNER
Mandy Patinkin, “Homeland”
Jeffrey Wright , “Westworld”

Outstanding supporting actress in a drama series

Ann Dowd, “The Handmaid’s Tale” *WINNER
Samira Wiley, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Uzo Aduba, “Orange Is the New Black”
Millie Bobby Brown, “Stranger Things”
Chrissy Metz , “This Is Us”
Thandie Newton, “Westworld”

Outstanding lead actor in a comedy series

Anthony Anderson, “Black-ish”
Aziz Ansari, “Master of None”
Zach Galifianakis, “Baskets”
Donald Glover, “Atlanta” *WINNER
William H. Macy, “Shameless”
Jeffrey Tambor, “Transparent”

Outstanding lead actress in a comedy series

Pamela Adlon, “Better Things”
Jane Fonda, “Grace and Frankie”
Allison Janney, “Mom”
Ellie Kemper, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep” *WINNER
Tracee Ellis Ross, “Black-ish”
Lily Tomlin, “Grace and Frankie”

Outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series

Louie Anderson, “Baskets”
Alec Baldwin, “Saturday Night Live” *WINNER
Tituss Burgess, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
Ty Burrell, “Modern Family”
Tony Hale, “Veep”
Matt Walsh, “Veep”

Outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series

Vanessa Bayer, “Saturday Night Live”
Leslie Jones, “Saturday Night Live”
Kate McKinnon, “Saturday Night Live” *WINNER
Kathryn Hahn, “Transparent”
Judith Light, “Transparent”
Anna Chlumsky, “Veep”

Outstanding limited series

“Big Little Lies” *WINNER
“Fargo”
“Feud: Bette and Joan”
“The Night Of”
“Genius”

Outstanding lead actor in a limited series

Riz Ahmed, “The Night Of” *WINNER
Benedict Cumberbatch, “Sherlock: The Lying Detective”
Robert De Niro, “The Wizard of Lies”
Ewan McGregor, “Fargo”
Geoffrey Rush, “Genius”
John Turturro, “The Night Of”

Outstanding lead actress in a limited series

Carrie Coon, “Fargo”
Felicity Huffman, “American Crime”
Nicole Kidman, “Big Little Lies” *WINNER
Jessica Lange, “Feud: Bette and Joan”
Susan Sarandon, “Feud: Bette and Joan”
Reese Witherspoon, “Big Little Lies”

Outstanding supporting actress in a limited series or movie

Judy Davis, “Feud: Bette and Joan
Laura Dern, “Big Little Lies” *WINNER
Jackie Hoffman ,”Feud: Bette and Joan”
Michelle Pfeiffer, “The Wizard of Lies”
Shailene Woodley, “Big Little Lies”

Outstanding supporting actor in a limited series or movie

Bill Camp, “The Night Of”
Alfred Molina, “Feud: Bette and Joan”
Alexander Skarsgard, “Big Little Lies” *WINNER
David Thewlis, “Fargo”
Stanley Tucci, “Feud: Bette and Joan”
Michael Kenneth Williams, “The Night Of”

Outstanding variety talk series

“Full Frontal With Samantha Bee”
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” *WINNER
“The Late Late Show With James Corden”
“The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”
“Real Time With Bill Maher”

Outstanding reality-competition program

“The Amazing Race”
“American Ninja Warrior”
“Project Runway”
“RuPaul’s Drag Race”
“Top Chef”
“The Voice” *WINNER

Outstanding directing for a comedy series

Jamie Babbit, “Silicon Valley”
Donald Glover, “Atlanta”*WINNER
Mike Judge, “Silicon Valley”
David Mandel, “Veep”
Morgan Sackett, “Veep”
Dale Stern, “Veep”

Outstanding writing for a drama series

The Duffer Brothers, “Stranger Things”
Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, “Westworld”
Peter Morgan, “The Crown”
Bruce Miller, “The Handmaid’s Tale” *WINNER
Gordon Smith, “Better Call Saul”
Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields, “The Americans”

Outstanding writing for a comedy series

Aziz Ansari and Lena Waithe, “Master of None”*WINNER
Alec Berg, “Silicon Valley”
Donald Glover, “Atlanta”
Stephen Glover, “Atlanta”
Billy Kimball, “Veep”
David Mandel, “Veep”

Outstanding directing for a drama series

Stephen Daldry, “The Crown”
Kate Dennis, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
The Duffer Brothers, “Stranger Things”
Vince Gilligan, “Better Call Saul”
Lesli Linka Glatter, “Homeland”
Reed Morano, “The Handmaid’s Tale” *WINNER
Jonathan Nolan, “Westworld”