When They See Us Star Jharrel Jerome Dedicates His First Emmy Win to the Exonerated Five

Nominees included Mahershala Ali, Benicio del Toro, Hugh Grant, Jared Harris, Sam Rockwell

By McKenna Aiello Sep 23, 2019 1:27 AMTags
Watch: The Exonerated Five Make Red Carpet Debut Alongside Ava Duvernay

The 2019 Emmys has crowned its Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. 

Jharrel Jerome accepted the esteemed honor on Sunday evening, where took the stage inside Los Angeles' Microsoft Theater with a heartfelt acceptance speech. 

And to make tonight's win that much more exciting, this is the 21-year-old star's first Emmy nomination and win. 

"I feel like I should just be in the Bronx right now chilling," Jerome remarked. "Waiting for my mom's cooking or something. But I'm here in front of my inspirations, here in front of people I'm so motivated by. The reason I'm here is because of actors like the people I was in the category with."

The When They See Us star's fellow nominees included Mahershala Ali (True Detective), Benicio del Toro (Escape at Dannemora), Hugh Grant (A Very English Scandal), Jared Harris (Chernobyl) and Sam Rockwell (Fosse/Verndon).

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"Most importantly," his acceptance speech continued, "This is for the men that we know as the Exonerated Five... Thank you so much. It's an honor. It's a blessing."

Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise, formerly known as the Central Park 5, walked the carpet with Ava DuVernay, who told their story with the Netflix miniseries When They See Us.

When They See Us received 16 Emmy nominations in the limited series or movie category, and has already won for casting.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Previous Emmy winners in this category include Darren Criss (The Assassination of Gianna Versace: American Crime Story), Riz Ahmed (The Night Of) and Courtney B. Vance (The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story). 

Congratulations to Jharrel, and check out our complete list of winners—updating in real time—right here!

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