All The Political Statements That Celebs Made At the Emmys Last Night

In one of the most talked about moments of the night, Michelle Williams called for pay parity for women of colour in her acceptance speech for best lead actress in a limited series. 'I want to say thank you so much to FX and to Fox 21 studios for supporting me completely and for paying me equally because they understood that when you put value into a person, it empowers that person to get in touch with their own inherent value,' she said. 'Then, where do they put that value?' she continued. 'They put it into their work and so the next time a woman and especially a woman of colour, because she stands to make 52 cents to the dollar compared to her white male counterpart, tells you what she needs in order to do her job, listen to her, believe her because one day she might stand in front of you and say thank you for allowing her to succeed because of her workplace environment and not in spite of it.'

Similarly trending on the night was Laverne Cox on the red carpet, and not just because of her Monsoori dress. Bringing ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio onto the red carpet with her, Laverne hoped to bring awareness to the LGBTQ+ civil rights case being heard by the Supreme Court right now. The case will decide if anti-LGBT+ employment discrimination qualifies as discrimination, essentially either allowing a person to be fired because of their sexual orientation at work or not. Carrying a clutch she designed herself with the words 'Oct. 8, Title VII, Supreme Court,' her and Chase spoke to multiple red-carpet reporters about the issue. According to Chase, the Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to legalise LGBTQ+ discrimination in the workplace.To find out more about the case, click here.

In another highly-celebrated moment of the night, Alex dedicated her acceptance speech time to telling a story about her grandmother before encouraging women to follow her advice. Winning for her role in The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel, Alex told viewers of her grandmothers experience of the Holocaust, saying:'My grandmother turned toward a guard—she was in line to be shot into a pit—and said, "What happens if I step out of line?" and he said, "I don't have the heart to shoot you, but somebody will. And she stepped out of line. And for that, I am here. And for that, my children are here. So step out of line, ladies. Step out of line.'

Winning for best supporting actress in a limited series, Patricia dedicated her speech to fighting for transgender rights. Talking about her sister, Alexis's death in 2016, whom was an actor and transgender activist, she gave a message to her while on stage. 'I just have to say I'm grateful to be working. I'm grateful at 50 to be getting the best parts of my life and that's great,' Arquette said, 'But in my heart, I'm so sad I lost my sister Alexis and that trans people are still being persecuted. I'm in mourning, Alexis, and I will be the rest of my life for you until we change the world, until trans people are not persecuted.'Give them jobs, they're human beings,' she continued, 'let's give them jobs, let's get rid of this bias that we have everywhere.'

A smaller political statement, but important none the less. When accepting the award for Chernobyl – which won in the limited series category – the screenwriter reminded people of the true intention of the series: to show the danger of powerful people wilfully rewriting history as the Soviet Union did with Chernobyl. 'I hope in some small way our show has helped remind people of the value of the truth and the danger of a lie,' he said. While he didn't namecheck Donald Trump, Deadline reports that the comment was aimed towards him.

Winning best supporting actor for his outstanding role in When They See Us, Jharrel ended his speech with: 'Most importantly, this is for the men we know as the Exonerated Five'. Referencing the more commonly referred to Central Park Five on which When They See Us is based, Jharrel's comment comes after Trump continued to insist the exonerated men are guilty long after their innocence was proven.

Another subtle nod to Trump's terrifying xenophobic policies, Jesse referenced his immigration stance when accepting the award for bet writing in a drama series. However, the most interesting thing about his speech is that it was bleeped by Emmy's TV producer Fox when it was evident he was beginning to bash Trump. 'Quite a lot of British winners. Maybe too many. Maybe you should have a think about those immigration restrictions,' he began. The next few seconds of his speech were inaudible to viewers at home as Jesse was censored – causing outrage online. AP Film writer Lindsey Bahr – who was in the audience – tweeted that the phrase bleeped out by Fox was 'shithole countries', a reference to Trump's disgusting remarks about immigration back in 2018.

When the Drag Race host won best reality competition program, he took to the podium to encourage viewers to perform their civic duty by voting. 'Thanks to the academy for voting for us,' he said, 'And speaking of voting and love: go and register to vote! Go to vote.gov! Vote! Register!'