Niecy Nash-Betts celebrated her Emmy win in the coolest way! The 53-year-old actress shared an Instagram video of her with her wife, Jessica Betts, skinny-dipping following the awards ceremony on Monday, January 15. In the background of the clip, viewers could hear Kool & The Gang’s hit single “Celebrate” playing.
“OK guys, as planned I am celebrating my Emmys win by skinny-dipping!” Niecy said in the video. “OK, I booked a hotel suite that has an indoor swimming pool. Now, I’m just waiting for my better half so we can get the party started.” After Jessica appeared, Niecy held up her gold trophy for the camera.
Niecy won the award for outstanding supporting actress in a limited or anthology series or movie for her role as Glenda Cleveland in Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. As she took the stage at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, the Netflix actress delivered an empowering speech.
“I’m a winner, baby!” Niecy cried after accepting her trophy. “Thank you to the most high for this divine moment. Thank you, Ryan Murphy, for seeing me. Evan Peters, I love you. Netflix. Every single person who voted for me. Thank you. My better half, who picked me up when I was gutted from this work. Thank you. … I want to thank me, for believing in me and doing what they said I could not do.”
Niecy continued, “I want to say to myself in front of all you beautiful people, ‘Go, girl, with your bad self. You did that.’ Finally, I accept this award on behalf of every Black and Brown woman who have gone unheard, yet overpoliced, like Glenda Cleveland, like Sandra Bland, like Breonna Taylor!”
"I wanna thank me, for believing in me."
Niecy Nash-Betts, who won the Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology series at the Emmys, paid tribute to "every black and brown woman who has gone unheard yet over-policed" in her speechhttps://t.co/JCCIAsTq6w pic.twitter.com/UNNSs5hfVs
— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 16, 2024
After delivering their “thank you” speeches, award winners exit the stage to speak to reporters, writers and journalists in the press room, where Niecy discussed self-motivation.
“I believed in me, and sometimes people don’t believe in themselves,” the former Scream Queens star explained. “I hope my speech was a delicious invitation for people to do just that — believe in yourself and congratulate yourself. … Sometimes you’ve got to encourage what? Yourself. That’s why it’s not called mama-esteem, them-esteem, us-esteem. It’s called self-esteem ‘cause nobody got to believe it but you.”
Niecy added that she is “the only one who knows what it cost me,” and is the “only one who knows how many nights I cried because I couldn’t be seen for a certain type of role.” Additionally, she is “the one who knows what it’s like to go through divorce on camera and still have to pull up and show out.”
“I’m proud that I did something that people said I could not do,” she concluded.