Zendaya Made Emmys History and Thanked Protesters in Her Speech: ‘There Is Hope in the Young People’

From Oprah Magazine

Zendaya made Emmys history tonight, becoming the youngest woman to ever win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series award for her work in Euphoria. Zendaya is just 24.

While accepting her award remotely, the Euphoria actress unveiled her second look of the night by Giorgio Armani Privé: one glitzy and worthy of the occasion.

In her speech, Zendaya thanked her family and Euphoria team...and those protesting this year. She ended her speech with a message of gratitude to them and a reminder to everyone to believe in the youth today: "I know this feels like a really weird time to be celebrating, but I just want to say that there is hope in the young people out there," she said. "I know that our TV show doesn’t always feel like a great example of that but there is hope in the young people. And I just want to say to all my peers out there doing the work in the streets, I see you, I admire you, I thank you, and yeah, thank you so, so much! This is—whoa, okay, thank you!"

Her outfit was custom: a black velvet bandeau top fully embroidered with pearls and crystals paired with a black matte weave skirt with powder-pink polka dots, according to the fashion house.

Law Roach, Zendaya's stylist, shared an Instagram of her first look earlier in the afternoon—the one she wore to present at the ceremony in person earlier in the evening. "If Emmy was a real girl.... @zendaya wearing @christopherjohnrogers @louboutinworld and @bulgari," he captioned the shot.

Zendaya spoke to InStyle in September 2020 about her time in quarantine. This is her first in-person award show since the coronavirus pandemic started.

"I think this is a new chapter for me," she said of navigating her career and free time during the pandemic. "There are a lot of people learning how to be creative during this time and learning how to take a leap while doing it safely in quarantine. It was interesting to experience that with my film Malcolm & Marie, and I'm really proud of that. I also have so many beautiful projects to look forward to. How the world is going to be able to see them, I don't really know. But that's when it's time to get even more innovative and figure out how we are going to exist in this industry with this new world."

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