Niecy Nash-Betts emotionally thanked herself as she won an Emmy Award on Monday (15.01.24).
The 53-year-old actress reflected on how her career had left her “gutted” at times but she was overjoyed that her self-belief had finally paid off as she scooped the Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Limited Series Or TV Movie accolade at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theatre ahead of Annaleigh Ashford (‘Welcome to Chippendales’), Maria Bello (‘Beef’), Claire Danes (‘Fleishman is in Trouble’), Juliette Lewis (‘Welcome to Chippendales’), Camilla Morrone (‘Daisy Jones and the Six’), and Merritt Wever (Tiny Beautiful Things’) thanks to her portrayal of Glenda Cleveland in ‘Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’.
Taking to the stage, she tearfully and excitedly exclaimed: “I’m a winner baby.
“Thank you to the most high for this divine moment.
“Thank you to Ryan Murphy for saving me, Evan Peters I love you. Netflix, every single person who voted for me, thank you. My better half for picking me up when I was gutted from this work.
“And you know who I wanna thank? I wanna thank me. My belief in me and doing what they said I could not do. I want to say to myself in front of all you beautiful people ‘Go girl wit’ your bad self, you did that’. “
Niecy finished her speech by dedicating it to “unheard and overpoliced” women of colour.
She said: “Finally I accept this award on behalf of every black and brown woman who has gone unheard and overpoliced. Like Glenda Cleveland, like Sandra Bland, like Breonna Taylor. As an artist, my job is to speak truth to power and I’m gonna do it until the day I die. Mamma, I won.”