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.
Thousands of members of actors’ trade union Equity are being asked whether they would support industrial action over artificial intelligence protections.
The organisation has launched an indicative ballot among about 7,000 members working in film and TV.
Performers are being asked whether they are prepared to refuse to be digitally scanned on set in order to secure adequate artificial intelligence protections.
It will be the first time the performing arts and entertainment trade union has asked this whole section of its membership to vote in a ballot.
The Hollywood strikes took place in 2023. File pic: AP
The announcement follows the Hollywood strikes in 2023, when members of Equity’s sister union in the US, SAG-AFTRA, and writers, went on strike over issues including AI.
Video game actors in the US also protested over the use of AI, ending almost a year of industrial action earlier in 2025.
Equity’s ballot opens on Thursday and runs for two weeks, and will show the level of support the union has for action short of a strike.
Another statutory ballot would have to be made before any industrial action is taken.
“While tech companies get away with stealing artists’ likeness or work, and the government and decision makers fret over whether to act, unions including Equity are at the forefront of the fight to ensure working people are protected from artificial intelligence misuse,” Equity general secretary Paul W Fleming said in a statement.
“If bosses can’t ensure someone’s likeness and work won’t be used without their consent, why should performers consent to be digitally scanned in the first place?”
Mr Fleming said the ballot would give members the opportunity to “send a clear message to the industry: that it is a basic right of performers to have autonomy over their own personhood and identity”.
The union has no choice but to recommend members support industrial action, he said.
“It’s time for the bosses to step away from the brink and offer us a package, including on AI protections, which respects our members,” added Mr Fleming.
The hotly anticipated Spotify Wrapped is revealing our top tracks, artists and albums for 2025.
But how does the streaming service calculate personalised summaries of users’ listening habits and rank the UK’s hottest artists?
Here’s a look at how your data is used.
The platform describes the annual statistics as “a chance to look back on your year in sound”.
It says data is captured between January and mid-November on every account, although it mostly excludes anything streamed in private mode. (Don’t worry, your passion for the Spice Girls can be kept secret.)
Wrapped presents personalised listening statistics, which Spotify calls the “real story of your year of listening”, alongside global figures for comparison.
The streaming service says Minutes Listened reflects the actual time spent listening to audio on the platform.
Once a user streams at least 30 tracks, Spotify generates a list of Your Top Songs. Similarly, Your Top Artists ranks artists based on total minutes listening to a particular performer.
Other metrics identify the top genres users have played, as well as podcasts and audiobooks ranked by total minutes listened. And if you’ve listened to at least 70% of tracks on a record, you’ll see top albums too.
Spotify also creates Your Listening Age, a guesstimate of your age based on the era of the music “you feel most connected to”.
The streaming service says the statistic is calculated using a five-year span of music which users engaged with more than other listeners of a similar age.
Spotify has been summing up 2025’s most listened to tracks. Pic: Spotify
Swift vs Bunny
Pop superstar Taylor Swift has been named the UK’s most-streamed artist on Spotify for the third year in a row.
But she dropped out of the top spot in the global rankings, coming second to Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, who secured more than 19.8 billion streams. Third were The Weeknd, followed by Drake and Billie Eilish.
Bad Bunny’s LP Debi Tirar Mas Fotos was the most listened-to album worldwide.
Read more from Sky News:
Sabrina Carpenter fury at video
Drake’s lawsuit dismissed
Spotify hikes UK prices
Spotify revealed Drake was the UK’s second most-listened to artist, followed by Sabrina Carpenter in third, The Weeknd in fourth and Billie Eilish in fifth.
Despite being the most listened-to artist, Swift failed to break into the UK’s top five most listened-to songs and albums of the year.
Alex Warren’s Ordinary was the most-streamed song, and Short ‘N’ Sweet, released by Carpenter last year, the top album.
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment3 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024