The 2024 Primetime Emmy Awards production will make history when it airs on Monday, Jan. 15 at 8 p.m. ET. For the first time in its 75-year history, will feature an all-Black executive producer team, in addition to a Black host for the third year in a row.
“Black-ish” star Anthony Anderson will host tonight’s ceremony put together by two leads of the team who are not only Black but also women.
“We have our first all-Black, all African-American producing team for the Emmys that’s taking place on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday,” Anderson shared with Fox News ahead of the ceremony, “Making history as we celebrate history.”
Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay both work as top executives at Jesse Collins Entertainment and bring decades of experience to the table. The company took to social media to make the announcement, celebrating the fact that the show airs on the same day as Martin Luther King Day.
Harmon, the president of the production company, has a history of pushing for diversity and inclusion on shows that she has worked on. Rouzan-Clay serves as SVP of Specials at Jesse Collins Entertainment and will help bring Harmon’s vision for the show to fruition.
“As women, we are constantly faced with discrimination and other challenges just by our mere existence. For that reason, we’ve had to develop a unique set of skills just to move in the world,” Harmon told Essence.com. “These skills – ingenuity, strength, grace, resourcefulness, and persistence (among others), all come into play when tasked with producing one of the biggest award shows on television.”
Inclusion is a serious issue in Hollywood, according to a 2020 report conducted by UCLA.
As per the Hollywood Diversity Report, 92 percent of chairs or CEOs in 11 major studios were identified as white, and 68 percent of these positions were held by men. In the broader executive category, 93 percent of roles were filled by individuals of white ethnicity, with men occupying 80 percent of these positions.
“I have found that sometimes being seen AND HEARD can be a daunting task in rooms where the Black female voice is outnumbered. In my almost 20-year career in television entertainment I have found that it is important to remain assertive with a smile, and back up my thoughts and suggestions with concrete evidence,” Rouzan-Clay told the magazine.
“‘You should book or hire this person because they are qualified and here are the receipts.’ Throughout my career, in some cases those ‘receipts’ have even had to support my own upward mobility,” the producer continued. “No matter the challenge, remaining vigilant in pitching new minority faces and voices remains paramount in my work as a producer.”
This is the second really big historical move for Black women in the Emmys in the last two years.
At the 74th Emmy Awards in 2022, hosted by “SNL” star Kenan Thompson, Sheryl Lee Ralph secured the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series trophy for her portrayal of Barbara Howard in the mockumentary “Abbott Elementary.”
Zendaya, then-26, clinched the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series award for her role as Rue in the HBO drama series “Euphoria.” The former Disney star not only became the first Black actress to win this Emmy category twice but also stands as the youngest actress to take home two Emmy awards.
who else can’t stop thinking about when zendaya won an emmy for the second time pic.twitter.com/9aVxRMYKrF
— ًً (@dayapugh) November 25, 2023
Singer and chart-topper Lizzo and her team celebrated three significant wins at the Emmys that evening with her Amazon reality show “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.”
The show won in the reality TV category for Outstanding Picture Editing and Outstanding Directing, and Lizzo, as executive producer, personally took home the award for Outstanding Competition Program.
Lastly, on that epic evening, show writer and actress Quinta Brunson rounded out the evening winning the best writing for a comedy series for her show “Abbott Elementary.”
Back in 2021, comedian Cedric the Entertainer hosted the Emmys, where he joined the Biz Markie Tribute for the late DJ and musician.
Actress, singer, and multi-hyphenate Keke Palmer recently became the first Black woman to be nominated for and win Outstanding Host of a Game Show in 15 years at the Creative Arts Emmys earlier this month. Palmer won her first Emmy in 2021 for her Facebook Watch series, “Turnt Up With The Taylors.”
