And the Emmy goes to… the Brits! Huge night for UK stars as The Crown cleans up
British talent has dominated TV’s biggest awards night, with stars including Kate Winslet, Ewan McGregor and Michaela Coel honoured – and royal drama The Crown and feel-good football comedy Ted Lasso cleaning up.
The 2021 Emmys was a night of Hollywood bowing down to the UK’s acting royalty, with The Crown named best drama and stars Olivia Colman and Josh O’Connor taking home awards for their portrayals of the Queen and Prince Charles in the fourth season of the hit Netflix series.
One of the most applauded wins of the night was Coel’s writing recognition for her hard-hitting drama I May Destroy You – an award she dedicated to “every single survivor of sexual assault”.
Winslet was named best actress in a limited series for her critically acclaimed performance as a small-town detective in gritty Sky murder drama Mare Of Easttown – in a tough category that saw her up against Cynthia Erivo, Anya Taylor-Joy and Elizabeth Olsen, as well as Coel – while McGregor picked up the best actor equivalent for Halston.
Ted Lasso, the Apple TV+ London-based comedy about an American football coach brought in to manage a struggling English Premier League club, was named best comedy for its first season, while US star Jason Sudeikis picked up the gong for best comedy actor. The series also saw wins for two of its British actors, Hannah Waddingham and Brett Goldstein, who were named best supporting actress and actor in the comedy category.
Perhaps the only real surprise of the night came right at the end with the final award, which saw chess drama The Queen’s Gambit take home the best limited series gong ahead of favourites I May Destroy You and Mare Of Easttown.
Kate Winslet was named outstanding lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie, for Mare Of Easttown, while Jason Sudeikis (below) won the award for best actor in a comedy, for Ted Lasso
The biggest night in US TV returned to downtown Los Angeles for a glamourous in-person event, 12 months after last year’s pandemic-hit remote ceremony, while many of The Crown stars accepted their awards at a ceremony in London. It was a huge night for the royal show – and a fitting end to Colman’s reign after two seasons, with Imelda Staunton set to take over in series five.
Oscar-winner Colman delivered yet another memorable awards show acceptance speech, becoming emotional as she paid tribute to her late father, who died during the pandemic. “What a lovely end to the most extraordinary journey with this lovely family,” she said. “I loved every second of it and I can’t wait to see what happens next.”
She continued: “I wish my dad was here to see this. I lost my daddy during Covid and he would have loved all of this.”
During his speech, O’Connor paid tribute to his co-star Emma Corrin, who played Princess Diana and was nominated alongside Colman, describing the actress as a “force of nature”. The Crown’s supporting stars also won, with Gillian Anderson and Tobias Menzies recognised for playing Margaret Thatcher and the Duke of Edinburgh respectively.
Coel, the star and creator of the critically acclaimed I May Destroy You, which explores the issues of consent and sexual assault, used her acceptance speech to send a message to fellow writers, saying that “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”.
Winslet’s win, in one of the most competitive categories, saw her recognised for playing the vape-smoking detective Mare in Mare Of Easttown, one of the year’s most talked about dramas. Accepting her prize, the actress said the decade must be about “women having each other’s backs” – and thanked the show’s creator for writing a lead character who is a “middle-aged, imperfect, flawed mother”, adding: “You made us all feel validated.”
Gillian Anderson, who played Margaret Thatcher in The Crown, was another winner for the hit royal drama
The supporting stars of Mare Of Easttown also won in the limited series category, with Julianne Nicholson named outstanding supporting actress and Evan Peters outstanding supporting actor – both thanked Winslet in their speeches.
Elsewhere, the ceremony’s In Memoriam section included tributes to stars including Larry King, Helen McCrory, Cicely Tyson and Michael K Williams – who died earlier in September, and had been nominated in the supporting actor category for drama.
Actress, dancer and choreographer Debbie Allen was the recipient of this year’s governor’s award, the TV Academy’s lifetime achievement prize – becoming the first black woman to be honoured with the gong.
Entertainment
Scottish artist Nnena Kalu wins Turner Prize 2025 for hanging Barcelona sculptures and Liverpool exhibition
Scottish artist Nnena Kalu has won the 2025 Turner Prize with two exhibitions, including a series of brightly coloured sculptures.
The Glaswegian, 59, took home the visual arts prize along with £25,000 at an award ceremony on Tuesday in Bradford, this year’s UK City of Culture.
As reported by The Guardian, she is the first artist with a learning disability to win the award.
Nnena Kalu, from Glasgow, is the winner of this year’s Turner Prize. Pic: Nnena Kalu/ActionSpace/PA
Along with Hanging Sculpture 1-10, which European art exhibitors Manifesta commissioned her to create at a disused power station in Barcelona, Ms Kalu won for her presentation in Conversations, a group exhibition at Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.
For the sculpture series, the artist created the vividly-coloured works from repeated lines and wrappings of different materials, making nest or cocoon-like forms.
Hanging Sculpture 1 – 10 by Nnena Kalu. Pic: PA
The installation consisted of 10 large brightly-coloured sculptures that hung from grey concrete pillars of the industrial site.
Meanwhile, for Conversations, Kalu presented work in pen, graphite and chalk pen on two pieces of paper.
Conversations by Nnena Kalu. Pic: PA
The jury, which was chaired by Alex Farquharson, the director of Tate Britain, commended Kalu’s “bold and compelling work” and praised the “lively translation of expressive gesture” in the abstract sculpture and drawing.
The panel also acknowledged her scale, composition and colour, highlighting “the powerful presence” her works have.
Nnena Kalu’s nominated Turner Prize works. Pic: PA
Kalu is also a resident artist at ActionSpace’s studio, which supports learning disabled artists across London at Studio Voltaire, and beat out fellow shortlisted artists Rene Matic, Mohammed Sami and Zadie Xa.
The works by the four artists are currently available to see at a free exhibition at Bradford’s Cartwright Hall Art Gallery until 22 February.
Jonathan Orrell views work by Nnena Kalu for the Turner Prize. Pic: PA
Named after British painter JMW Turner, this year’s prize marked the 250th anniversary of his birth.
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Previous winners include artist Damien Hirst in 1995 and filmmaker Sir Steve McQueen in 1999, while last year’s winner, Jasleen Kaur, picked up the prize for Alter Altar – which covered a red sports car with a giant ornamental doily mat.
Entertainment
Rappers Bob Vylan sue Irish broadcaster RTE over claim lead singer led ‘antisemitic chants’ at Glastonbury gig
Punk-rap duo Bob Vylan are suing Irish national broadcaster RTE for defamation, claiming it misrepresented chants led by the band when they played this year’s Glastonbury festival.
The group, which performed at Dublin’s Vicar Street last month, claim they were defamed in a report by RTE News that said the lead singer led antisemitic chants when they played the Somerset festival in June.
During their performance, singer Pascal Robinson-Foster, whose stage name is Bobby Vylan, led a chant of “death, death, to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]”.
File pic: PA
Pic: PA
It provoked widespread criticism of the artist, including from Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis, and the BBC, which live streamed their show.
Phoenix Law launched legal action on behalf of Robinson-Foster and drummer Wade Laurence George at Ireland’s High Court on Monday, according to court records.
The firm said: “The proceedings arise from a broadcast aired by RTE News following Bob Vylan’s performance at Glastonbury Festival on 28 June 2025.
“During this broadcast, comments were made alleging that the lead singer of Bob Vylan led antisemitic chants. These allegations are categorically denied by our clients and are entirely untrue.”
Phoenix Law said Bob Vylan had made statements expressing support for Palestinian self-determination and criticising military actions by the IDF (Israel Defence Forces).
His comments did not target Jewish people or express hatred towards any group, the firm said, suggesting they were “politically charged but not antisemitic in nature”.
Solicitor Darragh Mackin said the pair “are no stranger to utilising their freedom of expression to speak out against the genocide in Gaza“.
Mr Mackin said there was “a fundamental distinction between speaking critically about the role of the Israeli state forces, and being antisemitic”.
“The former is speech within the confines of political expression, whereas the latter is a form of hatred directed towards Jewish people,” he added.
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The BBC apologised, including to the Jewish community, and said it regretted not pulling the live stream of the set and promised not to live stream “high-risk” acts in future.
It partially upheld complaints made over the broadcast, accepting the live stream broke the corporation’s editorial guidelines.
Ofcom’s chief executive, Dame Melanie Dawes, said the BBC needed to “get a grip quicker” on handling such controversies and complete its internal reports and investigations sooner.
Last month, the Metropolitan Police said detectives would take no further action over similar alleged chants made at a Bob Vylan gig in London in May.
The individual was not arrested but an investigation was ongoing, the Met said.
Avon and Somerset Police said a man, in his 30s, understood to be Mr Robinson-Foster, had voluntarily attended an interview in relation to the band’s Glastonbury performance. Enquiries are ongoing, the force said on Tuesday.
The US condemned the act’s “hateful tirade”, revoking their visas, while several festivals cancelled their upcoming appearances.
Speaking to Louis Theroux in October, Bobby Vylan said he had no regrets about the chants and would do it again “tomorrow”.
Sky News has contacted RTE for comment.
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