Billy Porter made history. Patricia Arquette delivered a call-to-action for trans rights. Fleabag took home three awards. Amy Adams…oh, Amy. If you didn’t get a chance to watch the 71st Annual Emmy Awards last night, or if you just want to relive your favorite parts, here are the highlights from this past Sunday, purple carpet and all. 

 

Zendaya’s DRESS

Zendaya has never made a misstep when it comes to awards show fashion, but she outdid even herself in a custom emerald Vera Wang dress. The sheer corset? The leg slit to rival Angelina Jolie’s? The copper-toned coif? The Euphoria star impressed us with her mature performance as Rue in the HBO drama, but she’s come back to remind us she can do more than just a hoodie and sweats. 

 

Billy Porter

Just Billy Porter. The Pose star made history last night as the first openly gay black man to win Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Never one to not upstage himself, he also turned heads in an asymmetric, bedazzled cowboy hat that will come in handy if a small family ever needs shade from the LA sun. 

“The category is love, y’all,” Porter stated while accepting the award. V love you, Billy!

 

Patricia Arquette Delivered a Speech on Trans Rights

While receiving the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie, Arquette called attention to her late trans sister, Alexis Arquette, and the lasting persecution trans individuals face in the U.S. Alexis Arquette died in 2016, and Patricia used the personal tragedy to advocate for transgender rights as a whole. 

“I’m in mourning every day of my life, Alexis, and I will be the rest of my life for you, until we change the world so that trans people are not persecuted,” she said. “Give them jobs. They’re human beings; let’s give them jobs.”

 

Phoebe Waller-Bridge Took Home Three Awards for Fleabag

Fleabag’s second season was arguably the most critically buzzed-about series this year, upsetting longtime favorites in the comedy category like Veep, whose final season was overlooked. Phoebe Waller-Bridge gave speeches for wins in three separate categories, including Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, Writing in a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Comedy Series. Waller-Bridge is the first woman to take home both the awards for Lead Actress and Writing in a Comedy Series since Tina Fey for 30 Rock in 2008. They are the only two women to accomplish this in history!

 

Peter Dinklage Wins Fourth Supporting Actor Emmy

Last night marked the last Sunday night we’d ever get together to celebrate Game of Thrones, and the vastly popular phenomenon closed its last award season with Outstanding Drama Series. Peter Dinklage also received his record-setting fourth win for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama, a well-deserved accolade for fan-favorite Tyrion Lannister. 

Michelle Williams Speaks on Gender Equity 

After winning best actress in a limited series or TV movie for Fosse/Verdon, Michelle Williams spoke out about equal pay in Hollywood, especially for women of color. 

“And so the next time a woman, and especially a woman of color, because she stands to make 52 cents on the dollar compared to her white, male counterpart tells you what she needs in order to do her job, listen to her, believe her,” she said. “Because one day she might stand in front of you to say thank you for allowing her to succeed because of her work place environment and not in spite of it.”

While we applaud Williams, we long for the day actresses don’t have to keep fighting for the same issues year after year!

 

Jharrel Jerome Receives a Standing Ovation

Jharrel Jerome won for Lead Actor in a Limited Series for his role in When They See Us, about the five exonerated men framed for assault. The Netflix series, directed by Ava Duvernay, follows the real-life story of five teenage boys unjustly convicted and publicly lambasted in 1989. Upon accepting the award, Jerome received a standing ovation from the audience. 

“This is for the men we know as the exonerated five,” he said in his acceptance speech.

 

While we didn’t get Amy Adams an Emmy for her role in Sharp Objects, we can rest easy knowing that the 2019 Emmys were still one for the books as television takes one more step towards diversity and inclusion. Small steps, but steps nonetheless. We’ll miss long-standing favorites like Veep and Game of Thrones, but if Fleabag‘s wins proved anything, it’s that new talent is on the rise.