Jimmy Kimmel, Facing ‘White Privilege’ Backlash, Apologizes to Quinta Brunson for ‘Dumb Comedy Bit’ at Low-Rated Emmys

Jimmy Kimmel used his late-night show Wednesday to apologize to Abbott Elementary writer Quinta Brunson for a stunt some viewers claimed diminished her Emmy Award victory earlier in the week.

“People said I stole your moment,” Kimmel told Brunson. “And maybe I did, and I’m very sorry if I did do that. I’m sorry I did do that, actually. And also the last thing I would ever want to do is upset you because I think so much of you. I think you know that. I hope you know that.”

Brunson told Kimmel what she remembered most about the moment was her joy and not him lying prone on the floor as she spoke in acceptance of her award for outstanding writing in a comedy series.

“Well, Jimmy, let me just say, thank you. It is very kind of you to say that,” she said. “I, honestly, was in such a moment of just having a good time. Like, I won my first Emmy. I was up there happy and I was wrapped up in the moment and just having a good time.”

The exchange occurred after presenter Will Arnett dragged the 54-year-old Jimmy Kimmel Live! host by his feet onto the stage as part of a skit before announcing the winner for Best Writing in a Comedy Series at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles.

“Jimmy couldn’t be here tonight,” Arnett, 52, joked while addressing his “passed out” co-host lying on the floor. He added “Jimmy had gotten into the skinny margaritas” after losing the Emmy for his late-night series for the “13th time in a row.”

Footage of the Kimmel stunt can be seen below:

Kimmel remained prostrate in front of the microphone for the duration of her speech and was later blasted online as thoughtless by some and cited as an example of white-male arrogance by others.

At one point, Brunson even tried to rouse him by saying, “Jimmy, wake up, I won,” but the former Man Show host stayed put.

AP reports earlier Wednesday, Brunson and her cast mates fielded questions from TV critics during a virtual panel discussion, with co-star Sheryl Lee Ralph expressing disdain for Kimmel’s Emmy act. “I was like, ‘Oh, the disrespect, Jimmy,’” Ralph recalled.

She sarcastically referred to it as “lovely that he was lying on the floor during her wonderful acceptance speech. “I told him too, to his face, and he understood,” said Ralph.

When Brunson was asked what she expected during her appearance with Kimmel, she said she was “anticipating that we are going to have a good old-fashioned time” and she was intent on highlighting the season-two return of “Abbott Elementary” on Sept. 21.

Backstage at the Emmys on Monday, AP reports Brunson also graciously confided the bit didn’t bother her “that much” and noted Kimmel has been a booster of her and “Abbott Elementary.”

If she decides she’s mad at him, a smiling Brunson added, she might “punch him in the face” during her appearance on his show.

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