Quinta Brunson

CNN
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Quinta Brunson brought the audience to its feet when she won her first Emmy – but at her feet during the moment was Jimmy Kimmel, who pretended to be unconscious and stayed on the floor while she accepted her award as part of an intended joke that ended up miffing some viewers.

Kimmel presented the award for outstanding writing for a comedy series with Will Arnett, who dragged Kimmel on stage and joked that Kimmel “got into the skinny margaritas” at the theater’s bar after losing in an earlier category.

After the “Abbott Elementary” creator and star was announced as winner for writing the pilot of the popular sitcom, Kimmel stayed on the ground at the base of the microphone stand. He remained there throughout Brunson’s acceptance speech and into the commercial break, nearly two minutes in total.

Footage shared by a ceremony attendee showed that Arnett pulled Kimmel’s body offstage at the end of the segment.

Brunson, unfazed, used her limited time to thank the “Abbott Elementary” team, her family and her husband, but not without a dig at Kimmel: “Jimmy, wake up. I won!”

Kimmel remained out of the camera’s frame for the duration of Brunson’s speech, which lasted roughly one minute.

Later backstage, Brunson addressed the moment, saying the bit “didn’t bother me that much,” adding that Kimmel was an early supporter of her and “Abbott Elementary.”

“Tomorrow maybe I’ll be mad at him. I’m going to be on his show on Wednesday, so I might punch him in the face,” she joked.