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Glover made history as the first African-American to win in the best directing category.
Atlanta’s Donald Glover accepted the Emmy for lead actor in a comedy series as well as best directing for a comedy series, making him the first African-American to win in the directing category.
“I want to thank Trump for making black people number one on the most oppressed list,” said Glover of the President while accepting his best actor honor. “He’s probably the reason I’m up here.“
While onstage, Glover also thanked his family including his unborn son and his partner Michelle: “You love me no matter how crazy I get.” He also thanked Atlanta director and producer Hiro Murai for teaching him the art of directing, as well as for being his best friend.
“This really belongs to Hiro Murai. He taught me everything about directing. He had the eye for this show first, and we sat down and he’s just amazing. I really want to give this to Hiro and just say, ‘I love you and thank you for being my best friend.'”
(Above) Video courtesy of Television Academy.
“I’m glad I was able to make history but that’s not what I was trying to do. I was trying to make great content.”
—Donald Glover
The director beat out Jamie Babbit for Silicon Valley, Mike Judge for Silicon Valley, Morgan Sackett for Veep, David Mandel for Veep and Dale Stern for Veep.
Speaking about his history-making win, Glover said he wasn’t concerned with such labels. “I’m glad I was able to make history but that’s not what I was trying to do,” he said. I was trying to make great content.”
Despite the two twins, Atlanta failed to take best comedy series from repeat champion Veep. “I was trying to beat Veep this year. Hopefully next year,” Glover backstage of the HBO political satire, which is heading into its final season. “I mean that with love because I love their show.”
Atlanta, which offers up a surreal take on Atlanta’s rap scene, won the Golden Globe for best comedy series as well as the comedy actor trophy for Glover last January. The FX comedy, which will start shooting the second season in about a month, racked up six total nominations for the basic cable network — including best comedy, best actor in a comedy, best directing for a comedy and best writing for a comedy (for two different episodes, that is).
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