Diahann Carroll was a bit nervous during her presentation of the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ award at Sunday night’s Emmys.
“It’s been such a long time since I’ve been standing in this place I don’t know what to do,” said Carroll as she stood onstage next to co-presenter Kerry Washington.
Carroll’s nervousness lead her to declare that the “Scandal” actress must win the Emmy for ‘Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama’ and threw a jab at her former “Julia” co-star, Lloyd Nolan, for not being very handsome.
Carroll, who’s the first African-American, male or female, to be nominated for an Emmy, said of her co-presenter, “Tonight, she better get this award.” Not surprisingly, Washington covered her eyes in embarrassment. The 78-year-old actress and pioneer was forgiven for her excitement over the young actress, to whom many believed she was passing the torch. However, it was her next statement that rubbed viewers the wrong way:
“..the men are much more beautiful than when I was doing television. I don’t know where you came from, but I’m very happy to see you. After all my leading man was Lloyd Nolan, and those of you who know what that means — don’t repeat to anyone.”
According THR.com, Nolan, who passed away in 1985, and Carroll co-starred in the “groundbreaking series Julia, which ran from 1968-71 on NBC. It’s been praised for being one of the first weekly series to depict an African-American in a nonstereotypical role.”
Viewers immediately began bashing Carroll on social media. One commenter stated:
“As much as I like Diahnn Carroll, her joke making fun of the late Lloyd Nolan was tasteless and without class.”
“Without class” is rarely, if ever, associated with the actress. It’s safe to say, at 78, we can’t hold this against her.
