HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and Jharrel Jerome, star of Netflix’s “When They See Us,” were among the leaders of social conversation during Sunday’s 71st Primetime Emmy Awards on Facebook and Twitter.
“GOT” picked up 12 Emmys in total for its final season, including outstanding drama series, while series star Peter Dinklage picked up his fourth trophy for supporting actor in a drama (an Emmys record). Jerome won his first Emmy for his portrayal as the real-life Korey Wise, one of the members of a wrongfully convicted group of young men who came to be known as the Central Park Five in Ava DuVernay’s “When They See Us” limited series.
According to Facebook, the top five talked-about moments on the platform during the Fox telecast of the Emmys on Sept. 22, 2019, were:
- Peter Dinklage winning supporting actor in a drama series for “Game of Thrones”
- Jharrel Jerome winning lead actor in a limited series or movie for “When They See Us”
- “Game of Thrones” winning drama series
- Michelle Williams winning lead actress in a limited series or movie for FX’s “Fosse/Verdon”
- Craig Mazin accepts award for limited series for HBO’s “Chernobyl”
On Twitter, the five most tweeted moments from the Emmys, as measured for three hours before and after Fox’s broadcast, were:
- Jodie Comer wins best actress in a drama for AMC/BBC America’s “Killing Eve”
- “Game of Thrones” wins best drama series
- “Chernobyl” wins best limited series
- Jharrel Jerome wins best actor for a limited series
- Billy Porter wins best actor in a drama for FX’s “Pose”
The most tweeted about about celebrities at the Emmys were: Zendaya, who made a splash on the Emmys’ purple carpet, followed by Jharrel Jerome; Emilia Clarke of “Game of Thrones”; Porter, who made history as the first openly gay, black man to win lead actor in a drama; and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who took home multiple awards for Amazon/BBC show “Fleabag.”
Meanwhile, on Twitter, “Game of Thrones” took the crown as the most tweeted about TV show, followed by “When They See Us,” “Chernobyl,” “Fleabag” and “Killing Eve.”
After his Emmy win, Jerome told reporters backstage, “Unfortunately, I think our strongest stories are the stories of pain, considering that’s what we go through on a daily basis. Our pain needs to be told, so if it has to be for the next 20 years we’re just painfully telling our stories until we move on, then it has to be.”
Williams used her acceptance speech to highlight Hollywood’s pay-equity issues, thanking FX and Fox 21 “for supporting me and 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.”
Porter, in accepting his Emmy, quoted novelist and playwright James Baldwin, saying: “‘It took many years of vomiting up all the filth I’d been taught about myself, and half-believed, before I was able to walk on the earth as though I had a right to be here.’” He then gestured to the audience and saidm “I have the right, you have the right, we all have the right.”
