Power EP 50 Cent goes off on constant Emmy snubs: 'I think it's racial'
Power is the No. 2 series on premium cable and features a predominantly black cast, but its success hasn’t translated to Emmy wins. And that remains a sore subject for creator Courtney A. Kemp and executive producer 50 Cent, who were asked about the perennial snubs Friday while promoting the sixth and final season of the Starz drama.
“I think it’s racial,” said 50 Cent, when asked at the Television Critics Tour in Beverly Hills, Calif. about the show being overlooked. “They are just overlooking it. People who are connected to these ceremonies are not necessarily cool people.”
“Now we will never get one,” moaned Kemp.
“[Awards shows] are always late to my projects,” continued 50 Cent. “I feel like I’ll get a lifetime achievement award instead of an actual award when you are supposed to. This drama features the same content I use [in his music]. I didn’t receive the [Grammy for] Best New Artist after I debuted the largest hip hop album. I’ll just continue to make the numbers so high, they’ll be looking around and say, ‘Hey, we f—ed up again.'”
Kemp believes the Emmys overlooked the drama early on because it took a while before the mainstream media discovered the show. “It was disappointing. I thought we were doing something new and fresh, and we were hoping the Emmy voters would take notice and they didn’t,” says Kemp. “We have been winning Image Awards for quite some time. Our core audiences does love and respect the show. We were pioneers. If we premiered two or three years later, it might have been different. It took a while for the mainstream to notice and that sweet spot window had disappeared.”
No one on Power has ever been nominated for an Emmy.
Starz executives announced Friday that the final season of the series will air in two parts, the first of which will premiere Aug. 25, while the second half of the season will pick up in January 2020.
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