Michaela Coel Makes History As First Black Woman To Win Emmy For Best Limited Series Writing

By Edna Wande On Sep 20, 2021

Michaela Coel has Emmys history by becoming the first Black woman to win the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

Coel was one of the few Black creatives to win an Emmy on Sunday night as she took home the honor for her series, I May Destroy You, making it her first Emmy award.

She created, wrote, co-directed and executive produced the show, which was inspired by her own experience as a sexual assault survivor.

Coel was up against Brad Ingelsby for Mare of Easttown, Scott Frank for The Queen’s Gambit, Chuck Hayward and Peter Cameron for WandaVision’s “All-New Halloween Spooktacular!”), Jac Schaeffer for WandaVision’s “Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience” and Laura Donney for WandaVision’s “Previously On.”

“I May Destroy You” premiered on HBO during the summer of 2020. The 12-episode series tells the story of Arabella (Michaela Coel), a writer who wakes up after a night out with little memory of what happened to her. When she pieces the evening together, Arabella realizes she’s been assaulted in a bar bathroom.

The premise of the series was inspired by Coel’s real-life experience of being sexually assaulted, which she revealed in 2018 during a lecture at Edinburgh International Television Festival.

On Sunday night, Coel said her acceptance speech was for fellow writers;

Write the tale that scares you, that makes you feel uncertain, that isn’t comfortable. I dare you.

In a world that entices us to browse through the lives of others to help us better determine how we feel about ourselves, and to in turn feel the need to be constantly visible, for visibility these days seems to somehow equate to success – do not be afraid to disappear. From it, from us … for a while. And see what comes to you in the silence.

Coel ended her speech by dedicating the story of “I May Destroy You” to “every single survivor of sexual assault.”

The writer-director-actress was also nominated in the best directing and acting categories for limited series, but only won in the writing category.

In an interview with ET’s Kevin Frazier on the Emmys red carpet, Coel opened up about how it felt to be recognized at the awards show.

She expressed;

[I May Destroy You] is definitely fictional, but it’s inspired by some real-life things that happened to me. It’s kind of amazing and weird and overwhelming to be here, to have all of those experiences, plus the writing of the show, and the shooting… to lead us here is something that might take a couple of days to digest.

Coel revealed;

I was shooting [when I got the news of the nomination], and luckily I was shooting in a forest, so I just felt very zen and grateful. And then I called my mom.