- 1 day ago
Watch as Donald Glover and other stars honor Quinta Brunson at the 15th Annual ESSENCE Black Women In Hollywood. Then listen as she gives her acceptance speech.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Thank you. That's nice.
00:07Hey, you guys, I was directing until late last night.
00:13We got out really late, and I wrote this kind of...
00:20I'm sorry if it's a little messed up, just because I wrote it last night.
00:24It might be a little weird, so I just wanted to start.
00:29Good evening.
00:36Welcome to the Team People Awards.
00:40I'm your host, Deborah Messing.
00:41You know, I'm going to wing it. I'm going to wing it.
00:44I'm just going to wing this.
00:47I met Quinta on set of my music video.
00:58She was a PA, and she was working there, and as soon as we met, we immediately locked eyes and argued.
01:13I think it was about music.
01:16I think, you know, it was good, but she remembers more about it than I do, but she was telling me about it.
01:23I feel like, you know, I hope I was nice enough, but what I was learning in that moment was Quinta's kind of like passive passion.
01:35She's able to put her heart into things, but make it look very effortless, and she's doing something amazing, but it's very laissez-faire.
01:47Like, and that, like, confidence that, like, comes through that, like, I've been able to watch that over the years and be very, like, just in awe of it.
01:55Like, you know, I sit up here, you know, I could sit up here and talk about her characters and her writing point and perspective on a black lady sketch show.
02:03You know, really like that show. I could also be up here and talk about her amazing work on Abbott Elementary, a show so already universally beloved that it's been renewed, and people are mad it wasn't renewed after the first episode.
02:27So people are pissed off on Twitter. But much like, you know, Denzel winning an Oscar for a later performance after Malcolm X, this award is not about those two amazing things that she did.
02:45Oh, no. This award is about something much bigger that she should have won for a long time ago.
02:52And that award is the cultural moment of He Got Money.
03:05For eight months after that meme came out, I couldn't even take my mom to lunch without hearing,
03:16Oh, you got money. He got money. T-shirts, kids at like soccer games. He got money. He got money.
03:29And in just that instance, we saw how much of an innovator she was, you know, just with that meme, you know, with her relaxed and calm nature, it was like all encapsulated in that moment that traveled everywhere.
03:45You're so talented, you know, you're still a rising star. And like for someone like me, it still makes me jealous how when I hear your ideas and what you're working on, I'm like, man, I'm just I just love hearing them because I think that you're just you're very special to this generation.
04:06And I like love I love your point of view. I feel extremely blessed and honored not only to present you with this award, but to call you my peer and to call you my friend.
04:18I I can't wait to call you in a year to be on Abbott Elementary and you be like, I already gave it to Damson Idris. Stop texting me.
04:33Let's take a look at this for a second.
04:43Quinta is the quintessential relatable comedian. I think everybody who's seen her work is like, that's my girl.
04:50She went viral with a video about dating. I feel like everybody just started talking about her.
04:56Oh my God, you got money. Don't be nasty. He nasty, but he got money, though.
05:03I first noticed Quinta during her BuzzFeed days. Quinta and this crew of young content creators were really saying screw the system of Hollywood, screw the gatekeepers.
05:12We can write our own stuff and create it and perform it and produce it. And it's going to be incredible. And it really, really was.
05:19So when I was creating a black lady sketch show, I knew who I wanted in my cast. And Quinta Brunson was one of those people.
05:26She was so dynamic. I knew that she was going to be able to do a bunch of characters because, duh, she'd been doing them online.
05:33But I also knew there was something about her that was just going to resonate with audiences.
05:38But it was so great to get to work with her over the course of the season. She always makes a choice that, like, nobody else would have made.
05:44But they're all so funny and also in such a grounded way.
05:48I actually met Quinta Brunson on the CBS studio lot.
05:54My daughter said, Mom, that's Quinta Brunson and she is going to be big.
06:00And then the next time was on the set of a black ladies sketch show.
06:05And then 18 months later, I get a call from her. She said, Miss Ralph, I have a brand new series and I need a queen.
06:13And you are that woman. And I was like, how do you say no to that?
06:18Avid Elementary is a workplace comedy mockumentary about teachers in an underfunded Philly school.
06:26And we watch them as they go through the struggles of having to educate the next generation of kids with no help.
06:32Quinta plays the character of Janine Teagues, the forever optimistic leader of our school.
06:39My character, Mrs. Howard, everybody's favorite teacher, the one they never forget, was based upon Quinta's mom.
06:46Quinta's got a sense of timing that most don't have, not just when shooting, but also in the edit.
06:52And she has a very high standard for comedy.
06:54Comedy can be very hard, especially when you are touching on some very hot button topics.
07:01Hell no. I'm not surprised Abbott is a huge hit. I mean, leave it to a black woman to literally revive a network comedy.
07:09What do I think the future holds for Quinta? I think, honestly, whatever she wants.
07:15Like, if Quinta was like, I'm going to run for president now, I'd be like, okay, I fully believe you can do that.
07:22Quinta's possibilities in the black cinematic universe are absolutely endless.
07:27Not only has she conquered television and the internet, but what's next? Film? Ha!
07:31Quinta, I want to congratulate you on your Essence Black Women in Hollywood Award.
07:36It's been a privilege to become your friend, to be able to share space with you, to laugh with you.
07:41When it sits on your mantle, and when you stand up there and you give that speech, just think about how you blew me off in the DMs.
07:48Didn't just write a part for me in Abbott. Really, what I want you to do is feel bad, so you give me a job. That's all.
07:53You have helped and created space for so many black women to shine.
08:00And people don't even know, behind the camera, behind the scenes, what all you have done to open doors and pave the way.
08:07Cousin Quinta, Marie, Mackenzie, Aloysius Brunson, I am just thrilled to see you get your shine today and all the days. I love you!
08:18You know like I know, this is just the beginning of so many great and wonderful things for you.
08:27And I congratulate you on receiving this award this year from Essence.
08:37Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to introduce the extremely talented Quinta Brunson.
08:43Thank you so much. Thank you, Donald. I'm jealous of you every single day. I love how you dress in your very best leisurely fashion.
08:48Thank you so much. Thank you, Donald. I'm jealous of you every single day. I love how you dress in your very best leisurely fashion.
09:06Thank you so much. Thank you, Donald. I'm jealous of you every single day. I love how you dress in your very best leisure wear for this event.
09:17Really appreciate it. Wouldn't be you if you didn't. And I love you. And I appreciate you. And I just want to take the moment to thank you for all you've done for me.
09:25This is a person who told me if I needed to, I could come sleep on his couch. And I've been very broke here. Very, very poor. Ways you wouldn't understand.
09:34I'm talking cup of noodles and bananas for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And that kind of stuff means a lot in this industry. So thank you. Love you.
09:42Love you. It's very heavy.
09:47So focus on the speech. So in 2020, which I know is a year has kind of a yuck sound, but just go with me because this is a nice story.
10:00In 2020, I went to my first ever Essence Black Women in Hollywood luncheon. Pre pandemic and pre racial reckoning, most of my worries were minor at the time.
10:10I had just completed a starring role in the first season of Black Lady Sketch Show.
10:16I had just moved into a new apartment and was in the middle of a serious relationship. And my butt was finally getting bigger.
10:25All was well. On top of all of that, I was invited to go to this incredible luncheon that I planned on sneaking into. Like, wow.
10:35Wow. I could really only think of one worry as I pulled up in my Uber X to the Beverly Hilton that day.
10:42Will this be another event with awkward interactions where people aren't really that warm?
10:47As the day went on, my worry, my worry was rendered pointless. I actually didn't want the luncheon to end. The luncheon energized me.
10:55The warmth you feel from a room of a bunch of black women. I soon learned that that would be the only Hollywood event where I'd ever really feel that kind of warmth again.
11:06And so thank you, Essence, for putting 200 black women in the same room and recharging us all.
11:13So here we are two years later. I was just hoping to get asked to come again to this luncheon. So what a surprise when I found out I was being honored.
11:28So much nicer than my plan of sneaking in by pretending to be Janelle Monae, which that did work for me at the MTV Awards one year.
11:36White people really don't know the difference between. I probably could have said I'm Donald Glover and they would have let me in.
11:43I'm so grateful. And to be in the presence of Nia, Shantae and Anjanue is a little bit beyond me. It's a little bit too much.
11:53I've had to pinch myself multiple times. Nia is a testament to beauty, talent, grace and longevity in this industry.
12:00Shantae is a modern stunner who literally blows me away every single time she's on screen.
12:08I have DM'd you about this. You take, you take my breath away. Truly, truly.
12:14And Anjanue is a dynamo with whom I can only imagine to be half as good at one day.
12:21I want to be as good as she is at acting and she is something for me to, she's someone I can look up to.
12:28Inspiration in the truest sense that I just want to be half as good as you.
12:32I want to be the talent that is in your right pinky. I want that to be my whole body.
12:36I'm serious. You are out of control. It's really not okay.
12:40Because usually people reserve this kind of conversation for like a Meryl Streep or something, but we need to talk about you.
12:46We have to put you in the same, you know?
12:50We really need to put you right there, right next to her. I don't know what she got coming out next year, but we're going to shove her over and get you right in that slot. That's my plan.
13:04I can't believe I get to be here with them. You women are incredible and taller than I expected.
13:11Thought there'd be a step stool for me, but black women are such important pillars of my life, from my amazing mother and sisters, to my many cousins and aunts, to my teachers, both in school and in dance, to members of congregations growing up, friends, coworkers, sometimes just a girl who told me I look cute at a party. She's really important too.
13:32I don't know who or where I'd be without them. I understand that receiving this honor means that I am a representation of all of them, and I don't take that lightly.
13:44I hope that I am and can continue to make every single one of them proud.
13:49One of the reasons I created three black women characters on Abbott Elementary was because I was excited to show our work dynamics and how, at the end of the day, in most cases, we can still operate at our best in sisterhood,
14:01understanding and love.
14:08I sought to show how Barbara can disagree with Janine's choices, but know exactly where her want to make things better stems from.
14:16I wanted to display how Ava should make us all exhausted, but we know that life just wouldn't be as fun without her.
14:23Janine represents the best in us all, a part that gets stomped out, optimism, but is a weapon for change.
14:32In reality, these three black women represent my family and how different we can all be at different points in our lives.
14:38But with grace, we can see each other for what we are, black women doing our very best in a world that isn't kind to us.
14:47I thank you for this honor.
14:49I continue to create, I will continue to create with grace, care and love for black women, truly in the name of this honor.
14:57As I look around the room, I see people who have supported me from both up close and afar, and I don't take that for granted.
15:06Thank you so much.
15:08Thank you, Essence.
15:09And thank you to the step stool that never arrived.
15:12Thank you so much, everybody.
15:16Thank you so much, everybody.
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