Record Number Of Black Actors Take Home Statues At The 72nd Primetime Emmys

Sunday night’s Emmy Awards made history with a recording-breaking amount of Black actors taking home trophies.

The seven wins in acting categories broke the record of six that was set at the awards two years prior, according to CNN.

The winners include Regina King, who won outstanding lead actress in a limited series or television movie for Watchmen, along with her co-star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II who grabbed the outstanding supporting actor in a limited series or movie.

Zendaya became the youngest to ever win the best actress in a drama series for her role in HBO’s Euphoria.

Maya Rudolph, Eddie Murphy, and Ron Cephas won Emmys for guest-starring roles. It was the first win for Eddie Murphy in five nominations over the span of his career.

Father Ron Cephas Jones and his daughter Jasmine Cephas Jones became the first father-daughter duo to take home statues. Ron for his turn on This Is Us and Jasmine for her performance in the Quibi series #FreeRayshawn.

Rounding out winners was Laurence Fishburne, who also won for #FreeRayshawn, took home a win for outstanding actor in the short form acting category.

CNN reports that this year’s Emmys were some of the most diverse in history, which comes as Hollywood faces tough scrutiny about its lack of diversity, with Black actors making up 33% of the acting categories, as opposed to 14% the previous five years.