The actress gave an emotional acceptance speech after finally winning her first Primetime Emmy Award.
Niecy Nash-Betts, go on, girl, with your bad self!
The 53-year-old actress delivered one of the most memorable acceptance speeches Monday night at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards at Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles, where she thanked a slew of her loved ones, including herself! Nash-Betts was honored with her first Primetime Emmy for her work in Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
She had previously been nominated three times, and when she finally scored the gold statuette, Nash-Betts capitalized on the moment with a heartfelt and emotional speech that included a shout-out to her mom, Margaret Ensley.
"I'm a winner, baby!" she exclaimed from the stage. "Thank you to the most high for this divine moment. Thank you, Ryan Murphy, for seeing me. Evan Peters, I love you. Netflix. Every single person who voted for me. Thank you, my better half, who picked me up when I was gutted from this work, thank you."
And then she also thanked Niecy Nash-Betts.
"I want to thank me," she said as the crowd roared in applause. "For believing in me and doing what they said I could not do. And I want to say to myself in front of all you beautiful people -- go on, girl, with your bad self! You did that."
After striking a pose, Nash-Betts then dedicated her first Primetime Emmy to "every Black and brown woman who have gone unheard, yet overpoliced, like Glenda Cleveland, like Sandra Bland, like Breonna Taylor."
She added, "I'm going to do it until the day I die."
But before she left the stage, Nash-Betts looked over at her mom in the crowd and gave her a shout-out.
"Momma, I won!" she exclaimed.
Nash-Betts spoke to ET after her big win and she shared why she thanked herself.
"Yeah because you know, a lot of times people don't," she said. "And that's why it's not called mama-esteem and us-esteem and them-esteem, it's called self-esteem 'cause don't nobody got to believe it but you. And I believed in myself, and it was like, 'This is not your lane,' and I'm like. 'Oh yes it is, you won't tell me -- I tell you.'"
"I feel so affirmed, by my peer group because I feel fully seen in the moment," she added.
The 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, originally set to take place last September, was postponed due to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. Hosted by Anthony Anderson at L.A. Live's Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, the ceremony will air live Monday, Jan. 15 at 5 p.m. PT, 8 p.m. ET on Fox, and will be streamed Tuesday, Jan. 16 on Hulu. Keep checking ETonline.com for complete Emmys coverage and for the full winners' list.
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