Hannah Einbinder Wins Best Supporting Actress in Comedy Series at Emmys 2025

Hannah Einbinder has been crowned the newest queen of comedy.

On Sunday, Sept. 14, the Hacks star, 30, was named the winner of the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series category at the Emmys 2025.

During her acceptance speech, the actress said, “Thank you, wow. I really, sorry. I was just really committed to the personal narrative that I had that it’s actually cooler to continue to lose. I was pretty committed to that. Had to be, right? But, this is cool too. This is also a punk rock.”

She went on to thank the creators of Hacks for “changing my life in every conceivable way. but not just by giving me a great gig, but by being my friends and being my family.”

She then broke down in tears before adding,  “I want to thank Jean Smart, who is like the sun, and I just to stand in her warmth. And I also want to thank the cast and crew of Hacks, and I’ll pay the difference. Sorry. Finally, I just want to say, I just want to say.”

The final line of her speech was bleeped when she said, “Finally, go birds, f— ICE and free Palestine. Thank you.”

When asked to expand on the thoughts in her speech backstage in the Emmys press room, Einbinder repllied, “I thought it was important to talk about Palestine because it’s an issue that’s very dear to my heart. I have friends in Gaza who are working as frontline workers, as doctors right now in the north of Gaza, to provide care for pregnant women and for school children to create schools in the refugee camps. And it’s an issue that’s really close to my heart for many reasons.”

She added, “I feel like it is my obligation as a Jewish person to distinguish Jews from the State of Israel, because our religion and our culture is such an important and long standing institution that is really separate to this sort of ethno-nationalist state.”

This year’s nomination marks Einbinder’s fourth. The 30-year-old actress has been nominated for her performance as Ava Daniels for all four seasons of Hacks.

The series was also up for Outstanding Comedy Series, and her costar and partner in crime onscreen, Jean Smart, was nominated for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series.

Last year, Einbinder’s mom, Saturday Night Live alum Laraine Newman, made waves for a post she shared following her daughter’s loss in the category to Colón-Zayas.

“F—. THE. BEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” she posted on X.

She later deleted the post, and wrote in a reply to a fan that it was “not my best moment.” Newman then replaced the post with one that said, “I think the Bear is a great show but IMHO it’s not a comedy- not even a dark comedy.”

Though they didn’t walk away with the honor, the other nominees provided stellar performances this year.

O’Hara, 71, was among the nine cast members from The Studio to earn a nomination this year, and was joined in the category by Hahn. The Apple TV+ series, which was helmed by and led by Seth Rogen, earned a whopping 23 nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series.

The nod marks O’Hara’s 10th, and comes over 40 years after her first nomination and win, which took place in 1982 for her hand in writing on Second City TV Network.

She last won an Emmy in 2020 for playing Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek, and she was nominated in a second category as well this year: Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Gail in The Last of Us.

James’ nomination is also her fourth. Like Einbinder, she’s been nominated for all four seasons of Abbott Elementary for her role as inept school principal Ava Coleman.

Along with Ralph, who is nominated in the same category, James’ costar Quinta Brunson was also nominated this year for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series. The sitcom was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series, too.

Last year’s awards show was a memorable one for James, 45, but not in the way she’d hoped.

“My shoes were too tight, and I was literally in tears before I hit the red carpet,” she told PEOPLE. “Every picture you see of me looking effervescent and happy was all a lie. If you zoom in, you can see the pain in my eyeballs.”

Williams’ nomination for her role as Gabby in Shrinking this year is her second time being recognized for the role. The series is also up for Outstanding Comedy Series, and three of her costars were recognized: Jason Segel for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series, and Harrison Ford and Michael Urie for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

Williams, 36, recently told PEOPLE that the Emmy recognition is “an affirmation in like, ‘Wow, that character is working, that works.'”

“I still have to pinch myself sometimes of, ‘Wow, a jury of my peers voted to nominate me for that part that’s really special and seems almost impossible.’ I feel really lucky,” she said.

Outside of her peers in the professional setting, Williams said she’s also received high praise from fans regarding her portrayal of Gaby.

“I’ve been very lucky in my career. Men are great, but I love being loved by women,” she admitted. “There’s nothing better than going to a bar with my best friend and then seeing three women that are like, “Yo, bitch. I love you! Do you want a f—— margarita?'”

“To have wasted women come up to me when I’m out, which is my favorite thing and be like, ‘You’re that bitch’ is my favorite thing and I get paid a livable wage for it. I mean, it doesn’t get any better. Are you kidding me? What a dream!”

Hahn joined O’Hara from The Studio in the category, and the nomination marks her fourth. She was previously nominated in 2017 for Transparent, in 2021 for WandaVision and in 2023 for Tiny Beautiful Things.

The Studio stands out to the actress, 47, who told Vanity Fair of starring as the eccentric marketing head Maya in the show: “I hadn’t really done anything of this size, with this much gas on the pedal, so I was very excited to jump when I read it.”

“She was so clear on the page. It looked so fun,” she said of the role. “There was an ease to it, which is always a good sign with the comedy; it didn’t feel like it was going to have to be too muscled or too sweaty. There was a flow already to her.”

Colón-Zayas was the incumbent for this year’s category, having won her first-ever Emmy at last year’s show for The Bear.

In her acceptance speech, she revealed that she “didn’t think it would be possible” for her to win, as she said the FX series, in which she stars as Tina, has given her a “new life.”

“How could I have thought it would be possible to be in the presence of Meryl Streep and Carol Burnett and Janelle and Sheryl Lee Ralph,” Colón-Zayas, 53, said in her speech. “I love you all, I revere you to the bottom of my heart. My mamí, mamí, I thank you. My family, my grandkids, thank you.”

As for Ralph, this year marked her fourth nomination for Abbott Elementary, where she plays kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard.

Ralph, 68, took home the award in the category in 2022, the first year she was nominated, and gave an unforgettable acceptance speech that included a performance of Diane Reeves’ “Endangered Species.”

Earlier this year, the actress told PEOPLE for a cover story that she was in “complete shock” when she won in 2022.

“I was there to be supportive of my cast. I did not think it was going to be me. When they said my name, it was as if every angel in my life flew up and said, ‘Come on, come on. This is the moment. This is the time,'” she recalled.

“When I got up there and did what I did, sang what I sang, said what I said, it was my whole life speaking for me, and it was never just for me, it was for others, because if it had not been for others, I wouldn’t be there.”

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