THE KISS ...
LOCKING LIPS: Singer Keith Urban and his wife, actress Nicole Kidman, share a kiss at HBO’s post-Emmy Awards reception at The Plaza at the Pacific Design Centre in Los Angeles on Sunday. for some of the memorable moments from the night
IT was a night of glam frocks, political virtue-signalling and an R-rated speech, with Elisabeth Moss turning the air blue and Dolly Parton talking about sex toys.
After all 27 awards were given out, there were some shocked shows going home empty-handed but entertainment was again the big winner.
Sunday’s 69th Primetime Emmy Awards produced some memorable moments.
Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin ripped into US President Donald Trump, likening him to the sexist boss in their 1980 comedy movie 9 to 5.
“Back in 1980 in that movie, we refused to be controlled by a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot,” Fonda said.
“And in 2017, we still refuse to be controlled by a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot,” Tomlin said.
Not to be upstaged, Dolly Parton said she wanted one of the vibrators from Tomlin and Fonda’s TV show, Grace and Frankie.
On a night where the speeches that did not mention Trump were the ones that stood out, Stephen Colbert probably had the most biting line of the night for the president.
“Unlike the presidency, the Emmys go to the winner of the popular vote,” Colbert joked.
Alec Baldwin, winner of best supporting actor in a comedy for his Trump impersonation, was a strong runner-up.
“I suppose I should say at long last, Mr President, here is your Emmy,’ he joked, in a dig at Trump’s oft-stated annoyance at never having won a statuette for NBC reality show The Apprentice or its celebrity spin-off.
The night was also notable for its more sober moments, when several actors spoke out in praise of the diversity at this year’s awards.
Nicole Kidman used her moment in the spotlight to bring attention to the issue of domestic violence, explored in her mini-series Big Little Lies, which took home five Emmys.
“We’ve shone a light on domestic abuse. It’s a complicated, insidious disease. It exists far more than we allow ourselves to know,” Kidman said.
The surprise appearance of embattled former White House press secretary Sean Spicer was as remarkable for the shocked expressions among the celebs as it was for the spin-meister’s chutzpah.
Melissa McCarthy, who won an Emmy for her impersonations of Spicer on Saturday Night Live, looked like she might have seen a ghost, while Anna Chlumsky’s widemouthed gawp went viral.
Presenters and those honoured alike noted approvingly the diversity of the nominees and winners, and the stand-out moment was perhaps Lena Waithe making history.
She became the first African American woman to take home an Emmy for comedy writing when she and fellow scribe Aziz Ansari were awarded for the Master of None episode Thanksgiving .