An Emotional Niecy Nash-Betts Dedicates Emmy To “Every Black And Brown Woman Who Has Gone Unheard Yet Overpoliced”

“I accept this award on behalf of every black and brown woman who has gone unheard yet overpoliced, like Glenda Cleveland, like Sandra Bland, like Brianna Taylor,” said Niecy Nash-Betts in a passionate acceptance speech at tonight’s Emmy Awards.

Nash-Betts won Best Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or TV Movie for her role, noted above, of Glenda Cleveland in Netflix’ Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, who got the brushoff from police when she tried to alert them to the horror down the hall.

“My job is to speak truth to power, and baby I am going to do it until the day I die,” she said.

Cleveland in the series knew that really bad things were happening in Dahmer’s apartment alerting the police to the smell, the screams. but her repeated calls were repeatedly and condescendingly dismissed, which just about breaks her heart. In one horrific scene, the cops send a drugged 14-year-old back into Dahmer’s apartment over Cleveland’s pleas that the boy is in mortal danger.

After its debut in the fall of 2022, Dahmer spent seven weeks in the Netflix Global Top 10.

Nash-Betts won last year’s Critics Choice Award for the role.

The multifaceted thesp received accolades and an Emmy nomination for Ava DuVernay’s moving drama When They See Us about the Central Park Five. She’s got roots in comedy with unscripted police satire Reno 911!, and the 2021 TV movie spinoff Reno 911! The Hunt for QAnon that she produced.

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