Quinta Brunson says she’s not mad about Jimmy Kimmel’s Emmys stunt. But everyone else is.
“I’m going to be on his show on Wednesday, so I might punch him in the face,” joked Brunson.
Quinta Brunson, writer and star of Abbott Elementary, was more than gracious after Jimmy Kimmel’s “lifeless” body marred her Emmy win for best writing in a comedy series — Kimmel remained on the floor for the duration of Brunson’s speech.
“I felt like the bit didn’t bother me that much,” Brunson said in an interview after her win. “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.”
The internet would certainly understand if she did.
Monday was a big night for Brunson with Abbott earning seven nominations and winning three of them, including Sheryl Lee Ralph’s Emmy for best supporting actress in comedy and best casting.
» READ MORE: Sheryl Lee Ralph’s epic speech and Jimmy Kimmel steals Quinta Brunson’s thunder: ‘Abbott Elementary’ at the Emmys
But Brunson’s win for writing was supposed to be her moment in the sun after a blockbuster year.
Actor and comedian Will Arnett kicked off the award presentation for best comedy writing by dragging a “lifeless” Kimmel across the stage.
“This is like the 13th time in a row that he’s lost [an Emmy] and he just got into the skinny margaritas back there,” joked Arnett before announcing Brunson as the winner.
The stunt should have ended there. Instead, Brunson had to graciously step around Kimmel’s body to get to the mic and joke, “Jimmy wake up, I won,” but Kimmel never budged.
Many could relate to the position Kimmel, a white man, put Brunson in. Not only did Kimmel steal Brunson’s spotlight, she couldn’t even express dismay over the incident without facing backlash for coming off as “angry” or “humorless,” said supporters online.
What’s more, people were quick to note that Kimmel seems to be incapable of reading the room. Take 2017, when he hosted the Oscars: The awards presenters for the best picture category mistakenly read the wrong card. They said La La Land won and that film’s producer, Jordan Horowitz, was adamant about addressing the mistake.
“This is not a joke, Moonlight has won best picture,” said Horowitz with urgency.
“I think you guys should keep it anyway,” Kimmel said with a laugh, blaming Steve Harvey (who famously crowned the wrong Miss Universe in 2015), and asking why La La Land couldn’t win an Oscar as well.
Horowitz, like plenty of viewers at home, bristled at the bit and said, “I’m going to be really proud to hand this to my friends from Moonlight.”
Similarly, plenty want to forget Kimmel and his Emmys bit. They want to focus on Brunson and Abbott, which was renewed in March for a second season set to premiere on Sept. 21. Some supporters online have taken to editing Kimmel out of photos of Brunson accepting her award.
Still, many demand Kimmel publicly apologize because even if Brunson says she doesn’t need it, she certainly deserves it.