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Anthony Anderson has reacted to the final season of Black-ish being snubbed in Tuesday morning's Primetime Emmy Awards nominations announcement by jokingly calling the voters "racist."
Black-ish, a sitcom about an upper-middle-class Black family, came to an end in April following an eight-season run that saw the ABC comedy become a worldwide hit, spawning a number of spin-offs and winning critical acclaim.
However, when Anderson, 51, guest-hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday, Anderson, who played Black-ish's lead character Andre "Dre" Johnson Sr., pointed out that his beloved show had been overlooked for awards this year.
The sitcom's final season received only two nominations—one for contemporary costumes and another for contemporary hairstyling.
During the late-night talk show's opening monologue, Anderson noted that the program to clinch the most nods this year is HBO hit Succession "or, as I like to call it, White-ish."
Anderson then congratulated Jimmy Kimmel and his crew for the show's Emmy nomination in the variety talk series category, before bringing attention to Black-ish.
"Look, I don't want to bring the mood down, but I do have a bone to pick with the Academy," Anderson told the audience. "You know who did not get nominated for a Primetime Emmy this morning? America's sweetheart, me! That's right, me—Anthony Anderson—and neither did my show, Black-ish, or my co-star, Tracee Ellis Ross."
"Can you believe that s***, mama?" Anderson boomed in feigned outrage to his mother, Doris Bowman, who was seated in the audience at the Los Angeles studio.
"Hell no," Bowman responded, before her comedian son jokingly went on: "Look, I'm not saying the voters were stupid for not nominating me or Black-ish or Tracee. I'm just saying they're racist."
Continuing to sprinkle comedy over the situation, Anderson added: "You know what did get nominated for best comedy? Barry, a show about a murderer. And What We Do in the Shadows, a show about vampires who murder people. And Only Murders in the Building, a show about a podcast—about a murder."
"So Black-ish wasn't nominated, but we've been named the lead suspect in all of those white-people murder shows," Anderson quipped.
"I don't care, I don't need the Emmy," said Anderson after pointing out that somebody bearing the same name as his already landed a nomination this year.
"You know who else never won an Emmy? Nelson Mandela—I think. Can somebody Google that s*** real quick and see if that's the case?" Anderson said, drawing continued laughs from the studio audience.
"At least I'll always have my Oscar for Kangaroo Jack," he sarcastically added of his 2003 movie. "They can never take that away from me."
Black-ish earned 26 Emmy nominations during its original run, with its sole win coming for contemporary hairstyling in 2020, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In 2021, the series picked up six nominations, including best comedy series, and lead comedy actor and actress nods for Anderson and Ellis Ross.
About the writer
Ryan Smith is a Newsweek Senior Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more