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Michaela Coel makes history as the first Black woman to win the Emmy for best limited series writing

Sep 20, 2021, 10:12 IST
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Michaela Coel is the creator and star of "I May Destroy You." Laura Radford/HBO
  • The creator, writer, and star of HBO's "I May Destroy You," Michael Coel, just made history.
  • She won her first Emmy on Sunday night for best writing in a limited series or anthology.
  • Coel is the first-ever Black woman to win this writing award at the Emmys.
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Sunday night's 73rd Annual Emmy Awards brought a few new records, including the first-ever win by a Black woman for best writing in a limited series or anthology. Michaela Coel, the writer and star of HBO's 2020 series "I May Destroy You," won the Emmy. The win also marked Coel's first-ever Emmy.

Coel was one of the few Black creatives to win an Emmy on Sunday night as NBC News noted that the winners in all 12 acting categories this year were white.

The actress was nominated in the limited series writing category alongside Brad Ingelsby ("Mare of Easttown"), and four "WandaVision" writers: Jac Schaeffer, Laura Donney, Chuck Hayward and Peter Cameron.

"I May Destroy You" premiered on HBO during the summer of 2020. The 12-episode series tells the story of Arabella (Michaela Coel), a writer who wakes up after a night out with little memory of what happened to her. When she pieces the evening together, Arabella realizes she's been assaulted in a bar bathroom.

The premise of the series was inspired by Coel's real-life experience of being sexually assaulted, which she revealed in 2018 during a lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.

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On Sunday night, Coel said her acceptance speech was for fellow writers: "Write the tale that scares you, that makes you feel uncertain, that isn't comfortable. I dare you."

Michaela Coel is the creator and star of "I May Destroy You." Laura Radford/HBO

She continued: "In a world that entices us to browse through the lives of others to help us better determine how we feel about ourselves, and to in turn feel the need to be constantly visible, for visibility these days seems to somehow equate to success - do not be afraid to disappear. From it, from us ... for a while. And see what comes to you in the silence."

Coel ended her speech by dedicating the story of "I May Destroy You" to "every single survivor of sexual assault."

The writer-director-actress was also nominated in the best directing and acting categories for limited series, but only won in the writing category.

You can see the full list of 2021 Emmy winners here.

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