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Quinta Brunson just won an Emmy over Jimmy Kimmel's dead body

When Quinta Brunson won her first Emmy, for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series for Abbott Elementary's pilot, she accepted the award from Will Arnett and Jimmy Kimmel.

Well, from Will Arnett and the lifeless body of Jimmy Kimmel.

After losing yet again to John Oliver, the late-night host left his body, as Arnett explained, once he had dragged Kimmel onto the stage. Kimmel remained committed to the bit even as Brunson retrieved her hardware and she gingerly stepped over him on her way to the mic.

"Jimmy, wake up, I won!" the writer-actress gamely played along. "Jimmy? Okay, hold my phone."

Quinta Brunson and Jimmy Kimmel at the 2022 Emmys
Quinta Brunson and Jimmy Kimmel at the 2022 Emmys

Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Quinta Brunson and Jimmy Kimmel at the 2022 Emmys

Kimmel then gave her a thumbs up.

After beating out writers from Barry, Hacks, Only Murders in the Building, Ted Lasso, and What We Do In The Shadows, Brunson, a comedic master in her own right, seemed otherwise unfazed and continued on with her speech.

After thanking her co-showrunners for "believing in a story from four years ago and thinking that it would make a good TV show," Brunson thanked Larry Wilmore "for teaching me to write television as well as he did."

Brunson added her family, her husband, and her "incredible cast and crew for helping me to make this show and make the pilot" to her list of emotional thank-yous.

Backstage in the press room after her big win, Brunson said "the bit didn't bother me that much," acknowledging Kimmel as an early supporter of Abbott Elementary.

"I think at that moment, I was just happy it was Jimmy up there," the freshly-minted Emmy-winner said. "I kind of consider him one of the comedy godfathers. I'm a huge fan of Will Arnett. So I was wrapped up in the moment."

"Tomorrow, maybe I'll be mad at him," she added, joking, "I'm gonna be on his show on Wednesday, so I might punch him in the face. We'll see what happens."

All in all, Abbott had a good night, winning three of its seven nominations, including a win by Sheryl Lee Ralph in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series category earlier in the night — Ralph's rousing acceptance song and speech were no doubt the highlights of the telecast.

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