2021 Primetime Emmys featured no wins for people of color in the acting categories

A grand total of zero people of color won in any of the acting categories at Sunday's Primetime Emmy Awards.

All of the acting awards at Sunday's ceremony went to white performers, even though a record 49 non-white nominees earned nods for acting and reality competition awards, Variety reports. Three Black actors did win for their guest performances at the Creative Arts Emmys this year, The Hollywood Reporter notes.

In the main comedy categories on Sunday, the Emmys saw Ted Lasso stars Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, and Brett Goldstein pick up trophies, while Hacks star Jean Smart won best leading actress in a comedy. Meanwhile, The Crown completely swept the drama series acting categories with wins for Olivia Colman, Josh O'Connor, Tobias Menzies, and Gillian Anderson. The limited series acting awards went to Halston's Ewan McGregor and Mare of Easttown's Kate Winslet, Julianne Nicholson, and Evan Peters.

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One of the biggest surprises of the night was Michael K. Williams not posthumously being awarded the supporting actor in a drama series prize for Lovecraft Country; in an upset, that award instead went to Menzies. Many pundits predicted that Kenan Thompson would win the supporting actor in a comedy Emmy for Saturday Night Live, rather than Ted Lasso's Goldstein, and some experts also thought Billy Porter could win again in the lead drama actor Emmy category after he made history with his original 2019 win.

Still, while I May Destroy You star Michaela Coel lost to Winslet for acting, she did win for Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, making her the first Black woman to ever win that award. RuPaul also broke the record for most wins ever by a person of color. The 2020 Emmys made history with a record number of wins for Black performers.