Lena Waithe and Aziz Ansari Win Emmy for Master of None’s Thanksgiving Episode

Last night, Lena Waithe and Aziz Ansari took home the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for their work on Master of None’s excellent episode “Thanksgiving.” This installment of the food-crazy Netflix hit shows Waithe’s character, Denise, realizing she’s gay and coming out to her family. As the name implies, the episode chronicles seven Thanksgiving dinners with Denise’s family and her BFF Dev, played by Ansari.

This is the first time that a black woman has received an Emmy award for writing. Waithe had a special message for her “LGBTQIA family" in her powerful speech last night. The writer/actress remarked:

The things that make us different — those are our superpowers. Every day when you walk out the door and put on your imaginary cape and go out there and conquer the world, because the world would not be as beautiful as it is if we weren't in it. And for everybody out there that showed us so much love for this episode, thank you for embracing a little Indian boy from South Carolina and a queer black girl from the South Side of Chicago.

Angela Bassett, who plays Denise’s mom in this episode, was also nominated for her work on “Thanksgiving” in the category of Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, but she didn’t take home the gold. Aziz Ansari and his Master of None co-creator Alan Yang also won the Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series award last year.

For more information on Master of None, check out Eater’s complete series guide, which includes a detailed episode recap of “Thanksgiving.”
• Emmy winners 2017: the complete list [Vox]
• Watch Lena Waithe's Inspiring Emmys 2017 Speech for 'Master of None' [RS]
• All Master of None Coverage [E]