For the second year in a row, Indian American actor-writer-director Aziz Ansari earned an Emmy Award for ‘Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series’ for “Master of None” at the 69th Emmy Awards nite held at Microsoft Theater September 17th in Los Angeles, Calif. He shared the honors with Lena Waithe, who made history as the first African American woman to win for comedy writing for the “Thanksgiving” episode from Season 2 of Netflix’s “Master of None.”
Ansari and Waithe beat out Alec Berg of “Silicon Valley,” Donald Glover and Stephen Glover of “Atlanta,” and Billy Kimball and David Mandel of “Veep” for the honor. In 2016, Ansari shared the win with his “Master of None” co-creator Alan Yang.
In his speech, the activist and rapper also highlighted the importance of the Innocence Project, a non-profit organization that works towards exonerating wrongly convicted people, and the New York-based South Asian Youth Action organization.
“It’s always strange reaping the rewards of a story that’s based on real world suffering,” Ahmed said in his acceptance speech. “But if this show has shown a light on some of the prejudice in our society, Islamophobia, some of the injustice in our justice system, then maybe that’s something.”
The night was also special for British Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed who became the first man of South Asian descent to take home the Emmy for ‘Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.’ Ahmed was honored for his portrayal of Nasir “Naz” Khan on HBO’s “The Night of.” In 2010, Indian American actress Archie Panjabi won an Emmy for her role in “The Good Wife.”
“Master of None” and Ansari were also nominated for ‘Outstanding Comedy Series’ and ‘Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.’ Adding charm to the list of presenters for the second time was Indian actress Priyanka Chopra, who shone on the red carpet in an encrusted white feathered gown from the shelves of Balmain. And the 34-year-old, who complemented her look with dark purple smoky eyes and a matching matte lip, also landed on the best dressed list. Chopra and Anthony Anderson presented the ‘Outstanding Variety Talk Series’ award to John Oliver for his HBO show, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.”
