Quinta Brunson isn’t about to let a cringeworthy stunt overshadow her 2022 Emmy Awards victory.
The “Abbott Elementary” creator and star got even with Jimmy Kimmel on Monday after he drew attention away from her acceptance speech earlier that night with an ill-conceived bit.
Following the ceremony, Brunson joined Kimmel and a bevy of other stars at an after-party in Los Angeles. When the two posed together for a photo, she playfully obscured his face with her Emmy statuette.
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Kimmel and actor Will Arnett had presented Brunson with the award for ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” in the category of outstanding writing for a comedy series.
As part of a comedic skit, Arnett dragged a seemingly unconscious Kimmel to the stage. The two pretended that Kimmel had passed out from drinking too much after his late-night show lost to “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” in the outstanding variety talk series category.
Kimmel stayed on the floor for the duration of Brunson’s acceptance speech, prompting online backlash from viewers who felt his stunt detracted from the historic significance of her achievement.
Brunson is only the second Black woman to win in her category and the first to win solo. In 2017, Lena Waithe shared her win with co-writer Aziz Ansari for the “Thanksgiving” episode of Netflix’s “Master of None.”
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Kimmel remained committed to the skit even when Entertainment Tonight asked him about it after the ceremony had wrapped.
“I had my eyes closed,” he quipped. “I had no idea where I was. It was one of the weirdest things that has ever happened to me.”
As for Brunson, she didn’t seem fazed. Speaking to Variety after leaving the Emmys stage, she emphasized the fact that Kimmel had been a champion of her work on “Abbott Elementary” long before the nominations were announced.
“I felt like the bit didn’t bother me that much,” she said. “Tomorrow maybe I’ll be mad at him. I’m going to be on his show on Wednesday, so I might punch him in the face.”