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‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ Lena Waithe win big at politically charged Emmys

the Hulu series won a total of eight awards for the night

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8 years ago

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(Aziz Ansari and Lena Waithe accept the award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. Screenshot via Twitter.)

The 69th Primetime Emmy Awards was filled with historic wins, political humor and some LGBT representation on Sunday night.

Hosted by late night talk show host Stephen Colbert, the awards ceremony wasn’t short on digs at the Trump administration. Colbert’s opening monologue was riddled with Trump references. In one of the most surprising moments of the night, Sean Spicer made an appearance wheeling out a podium as a nod to Melissa McCarthy’s portrayal of him on “Saturday Night Live.”

“This will be the largest audience to witness the Emmys, period,” Spicer told the shocked crowd.

Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin joined together for a “Nine to Five” reunion on stage and took their own aim at Trump.

“Back in 1980, in that movie we refused to be controlled by a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot,” Fonda began.

“And in 2017, we still refuse to be controlled by a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot,” Tomlin finished to the cheers of the crowd.

RuPaul also made an appearance as a living Emmy statue being quizzed by Colbert on her dating life with other award statues.

Dave Chappelle presented the award for Outstanding Director in a Comedy Series and brought attention to D.C. Public Schools with a random shoutout.

“All right, now I’m going to read this teleprompter. Shout out to D.C. Public Schools, here we go,” Chappelle, who is an alumni of Duke Ellington School of the Arts, joked.

Later in the night while accepting his award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, comedian John Oliver asked to get D.C. Public Schools trending on Twitter. His plea was heard and the hashtag was trending nationally.

The awards of the night marked firsts for many who held the statue on stage.

Lena Waithe made history for winning an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for co-writing the episode “Thanksgiving” on “Master of None” with the show’s co-creator, Aziz Ansari. She is the first black woman to receive the honor.

“Thanksgiving,” tells the story of how Waithe’s character Denise comes to terms with her sexuality and coming out in a black family over a series of family Thanksgivings. Waithe thanked her girlfriend while accepting the award and gave a special shoutout to her “LGBTQIA family.”

“I see each and every one of you,” Waithe says. “The things that make us different – those are our superpowers. Every day when you walk out the door and put on your imaginary cape and go out there and conquer the world, because the world would not be as beautiful as it is if we weren’t in it. And for everybody out there that showed us so much love for this episode, thank you for embracing a little Indian boy from South Carolina and a queer black girl from the South Side of Chicago.”

Donald Glover became the first black person to win both Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and for comedy directing for his work on “Atlanta.” Julia Louis-Dreyfus won for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role on “Veep,” making her the record-holder for most Emmys won for the same role in the same series.

Sterling K. Brown was the first black man to win Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for “This is Us” since Andre Braugher won in 1998. Riz Ahmed took home Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series for “The Night Of,” making him the first South Asian man to receive the honor.

Kate McKinnon won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and thanked Hillary Clinton, who she frequently portrayed on “Saturday Night Live.”

“San Junipero,” from the sci-fi Netflix series “Black Mirror,” also received awards for Outstanding Television Movie and Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series or Movie. “San Junipero” follows an interracial, lesbian couple who fall in love in a simulated, alternate reality. It’s often been praised for its positive portrayal of an LGBT relationship and for having a happy ending.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” swept the Emmys, winning a total of eight awards including Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Elisabeth Moss.

List of winners below.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Sterling K. Brown- “This Is Us” 
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” 
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” 
Mandy Patinkin, “Homeland”
Jeffrey Wright , “Westworld”

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Ann Dowd, “The Handmaid’s Tale” 
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”
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” 
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” 
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” 
Kathryn Hahn, “Transparent”
Judith Light, “Transparent”
Anna Chlumsky, “Veep”

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

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

Outstanding Limited Series

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

Best TV Movie

“Black Mirror: San Junipero”
“Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors”
“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”
“Sherlock: The Lying Detective”
“The Wizard of Lies”

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series

Riz Ahmed, “The Night Of” 
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”
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” 
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” 
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” 
“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” 

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series

Jamie Babbit, “Silicon Valley”
Donald Glover, “Atlanta”
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” 
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”
Alec Berg, “Silicon Valley”
Donald Glover, “Atlanta”
Stephen Glover, “Atlanta”
Billy Kimball, “Veep”
David Mandel, “Veep”

Best Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special

Charlie Brooker, “Black Mirror: San Junipero”
David E. Kelley, “Big Little Lies”
Noah Hawley, “Fargo”
Ryan Murphy, “Feud: Bette and Joan”
Jaffe Cohen, Michael Zam & Ryan Murphy, “Feud: Bette and Joan”
Richard Price & Steven Zaillian, “The Night Of”

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”
Jonathan Nolan, “Westworld”

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In D.C. comedy, be sure to shop local

A thriving patchwork of queer-friendly stages in Washington, Baltimore

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10 hours ago

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March 7, 2026

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(Photo courtesy of Jamie Mack)

Most people know stand-up comedy from Netflix specials or late-night sets on Comedy Central. The reality is far different for local working comics like me. A few times a month, I might get paid $50 for a 10-minute set and my photo on a bar flyer to show off to the ladies in my scrapbooking club.

Still, it’s a joy sharing laughs about my well-worn Washington career arc — from conservative reporter to openly trans organic grocery store worker and nightclub comedian. Or, as I like to say onstage, from Fox to foxy.

Stand-up is hard. Offstage, it’s even harder. It took more than a year and nearly 80 open mics to land my first paid set. Since then, I’ve performed in coffee shops, bars, restaurants and even on a city sidewalk. I once performed in the Catskills, which felt like a big deal — even if it was a bigger deal in the 1950s.

As an older trans comic in Washington, I’ve found it nearly impossible to get stage time — or even the courtesy of a returned email — at the big, corporate-owned comedy clubs. Fortunately, there’s a thriving patchwork of queer-friendly producers in Washington and Baltimore creating shows that reflect the diversity of our communities, instead of straight male-dominated lineups that look like the cast of “Ice Road Truckers.”

“There are so many kinds of funny people, but a lot of barriers exist for women and queer people because it’s a very masculine culture,” said Dana Fleitman, who runs the Just Kidding Comedy Collective and is helping produce the Woke Mob Comedy Festival in April, featuring many women and queer comics.

Full disclosure: I’m not performing in the festival. But I am proud to be one of more than 50 women and nonbinary comics Fleitman and her colleagues have helped “train up” through an incubator program she first ran through Grassroots Comedy and now through Just Kidding Comedy Collective.

Another trans comic, Charlie Girard, who splits time between New York and Washington, runs an incubator program called Queers Can’t Take a Joke. He has trained more than 100 comics in Washington.

Girard has one rule: no punching down.

“The best comics speak truth to power,” Girard said. “Making fun of marginalized communities is simple lazy writing based on tired, old stereotypes.”

Ultimately, Girard wants to prepare students not just for queer rooms, but to find their voice and expand into all kinds of spaces.

Comics trained by Girard and Fleitman have gone on to produce or help run shows like Clocked Comedy, Backbone Comedy, the Crackin’ Up open mic and Funny Side Up. Several have found a home on Barracks Row at As You Are — one of my favorite places to perform. In Washington, comic Jenny Cavallero’s show Seltzer is a sober comedy night frequently featuring local queer comics.

In Washington, performer and producer Arzoo Malhotra, who runs Zoo Animal Productions, said it’s a critical moment to support community-based comedy producers, often the first hit by worsening economic conditions.

“We’re losing spaces faster than we’re creating them,” Malhotra said. “We are in the use-it-or-lose-it stage. If there’s a restaurant you like or a performer you want to keep seeing, patronize them now — because they’re going away.”

I’m also grateful for producers in Baltimore, which has a thriving queer comedy scene. Comic Hannah Alden Jeffrey’s monthly “The Really Cool Open Mic,” created for women and trans performers but open to all, regularly draws up to 100 people.

Hannah’s mic and Kenny Rooster’s “Dramedy” open stage have provided safety and opportunity when other stages felt out of reach. Comedians Michael Furr and Jake Leizear also produce shows regularly featuring queer comics.

“We started the REALLY COOL Open Mic because every other mic in town catered toward straight dudes that dominated the Baltimore scene,” Alden Jeffrey said. “Contrary to the lineups of many shows today, people don’t want to see a show of eight guys being bigots. Go figure.”

One of the most important moments for me came when I attended a free showcase at a well-known Adams Morgan club. Like other big venues, it hadn’t responded to emails from a new comic looking for a shot. I sat in the back row thinking maybe these comics were just way funnier than I am.

Then a straight male comedian — with hair even more gorgeous than mine — launched into a long joke comparing eating pizza to performing oral sex on a woman.

At that moment, I walked out feeling better about myself. I remember thinking: nope. I absolutely deserve to be on that stage, too.

Lots of us do.

Jamie Mack is a stand up comedian, speaker and writer. Follow them on Instagram at @jamiemack_blt or email [email protected].

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Liza Minnelli makes surprise appearance at GLAAD Media Awards

Laverne Cox’s fiery speech earned standing ovation

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1 day ago

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March 6, 2026

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Liza Minnelli surprises at the GLAAD Media Awards (Photo courtesy of GLAAD)

Last night’s GLAAD Media Awards had a few pleasant surprises in store.

Throughout the evening, which was hosted by “Mean Girls” star Jonathan Bennett on Thursday at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, the audience was clued into the fact that a mystery guest would make an appearance. By the end of the night, it was revealed to be none other than “Cabaret” star and queer icon Liza Minnelli, who was in attendance to accept the newly-created Liza Minnelli Storyteller Award.

An emotional Minnelli told the crowd of queer attendees and creatives, “You make me so proud because you’re so strong, and you stand up for what you believe in. You really do, and it’s so nice to be here. I feel like a five-year-old!” Everyone then joined in a happy birthday celebration for Minnelli’s upcoming birthday on March 12, and the release of her upcoming memoir, “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!”

Another moment that got the audience standing and cheering was when “Orange Is the New Black” star Laverne Cox took to the stage to call out how “what is going on right now in the United States of America is not right.”

She said, “Identify, I said this earlier, and I’m going to say it again, what dehumanizing language and images are. Call it out and don’t buy into it! So much of my struggle over the past several years [has been] trying to figure out how to combat this assault on my community, rhetorically. I do not want to have the conversation about my life and my humanity on the oppressor’s terms.”

That message was echoed by Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers when accepting the Stephen F. Kolzak Award for their “Las Culturistas” podcast and pledging to donate $10,000 to Equality Kansas after the state revoked transgender people’s driver’s licenses. “We cannot accept this award without condemning the rampant active transphobia from this administration,” Rogers said. “We are also here to let them know in advance that they are fighting a losing battle. When we gather in rooms like this, we are always going to have each other’s backs.”

Among the big winners last night were “Heated Rivalry” for outstanding new TV series, “The Traitors” for outstanding reality competition program, “Stranger Things” for outstanding drama series, “Palm Royale” (which was just cancelled after two seasons) for outstanding comedy series, “Come See Me in the Good Light” for outstanding documentary, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” for outstanding wide theatrical release film and a tie between “A Nice Indian Boy” and “Plainclothes” for outstanding limited theatrical release film.

Quinta Brunson received the Vanguard Award for her hit TV series “Abbott Elementary,” which features Jacob, an openly queer character played by Chris Perfetti. Brunson said, “Queer people have been a part of my life since birth. I have to shout out my uncle … who was the first example of representation in my life of queer people, who allowed me to be free. There are so many people in the room who changed my life.”

On the music side, Young Miko won for outstanding music artist, and KATSEYE won for outstanding breakthrough music artist. Demi Lovato even opened the show with a steamy performance of her single “Kiss.”

The GLAAD Media Awards will officially air Saturday, March 21 on Hulu.

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PHOTOS: Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade

48th annual LGBTQ event held in Australian city

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3 days ago

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March 5, 2026

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A scene from the 2026 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade. (Photo by Cori Mitchell)

The 48th annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade was held on Feb. 28.

(Photos by Cori Mitchell)

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