Niecy Nash-Betts might have had the speech of the night at the 75th Annual Primetime Emmys because after winning for best supporting actress in a limited series for the Netflix series, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, she won over everyone in the audience. Her exuberant speech hit all of the right notes from thanking show creator Ryan Murphy, and her costar Evan Peters, to the love of her life, wife Jessica Betts. There is also one other person she made sure to thank: herself.
“I want to thank me, for believing in me and doing what they said I could not do,” she said on the Peacock stage. “I want to say to myself in front of all you beautiful people, ‘Go, girl, with your bad self. You did that.’” The audience gave her a standing ovation for the inspiring speech that was heartwarming, and exciting, and touched on the social justice issues of women “like Glenda Cleveland, like Sandra Bland, like Breonna Taylor!” When she got backstage to the press room, she was asked why she made sure to thank herself in her thrilling speech and her response was as motivating as you would expect.
“Well, because you know, I’m the only one who knows what it costs me,” she told the media. “I’m the only one who knows how many nights I cried because I couldn’t be seen for a certain type of role. I’m the one who knows what it’s like to go through divorce on-camera and still have to pull up and show out and you still got to go home, and you have children and a whole life. And so I’m proud of myself.” That confidence carried her throughout her career and pushed her beyond the critics who said she wouldn’t rise through the ranks of Hollywood — she proved them wrong.
“I’m proud that I did something that people said I could not do because I believed in me and sometimes people don’t believe in themselves,” Nash-Betts continued. “And I hope my speech was a delicious invitation for people to do just that believe in yourself and congratulate yourself. Sometimes you got to encourage yourself and that’s why it’s not called mama-esteem them-esteem, us-esteem. It’s called self-esteem because don’t nobody got to believe it.”
If that doesn’t inspire you to go after your dreams, we don’t know what will. Nash-Betts had every right to give herself a pat on the back because she not only earned that Emmy — she also deserved it.
Before you go, click here to see the most iconic roles played by Black women in movies & TV.
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