Ryan Murphy uses Emmys acceptance speech to warn about homophobic hate crimes
Ryan Murphy accepts the Outstanding Limited Series award for ‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story’ onstage during the 70th Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Kevin Winter/Getty)
TV producer Ryan Murphy stunned the audience at the Emmy Awards on Monday night by quoting stats on LGBT+ hate crimes.
The Glee creator, who is responsible for a string of successful shows, made the intervention while accepting an award for The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.
The TV show is based on the real-life murder of out fashion designer Gianni Versace by gay serial killer Andrew Cunanan.
Murphy dedicated his fifth Emmy win to LGBT+ people who have suffered hate crimes (ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty)
Accepting the Best Limited Series or TV Movie Award, Murphy said: “The Assassination of Gianni Versace is about a lot of things, it’s about homophobia, internalized and externalized. It’s about a country that allows hatred to grow, unfettered and unchecked.
“One of out of every four LGBTQ people in this country will be the victim of a hate crime. We dedicate this award to them, to awareness, to stricter hate crime laws, and mostly, this is for the memory of Jeff and David and Gianni and for all of those taken too soon. Thank you very much.”
Jeffrey Trail, David Madson and Versace are three of Cunanan’s victims.
Murphy has a number of acclaimed TV shows currently on air—anthology shows American Horror Story, American Crime Story and Feud, queer drama series Pose and procedural 9-1-1.
Ryan Murphy accepts the Outstanding Limited Series award for ‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story’ onstage during the 70th Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Kevin Winter/Getty)
The TV creator, who has championed LGBT inclusivity in his work, previously vowed to donate all the profit from Pose to LGBT causes.
He confirmed: “I am donating 100 percent of my profits from my new FX show Pose towards trans and LGBTQ charitable organizations. These groups do amazing work and need our support.”
One of the benefactors is The Sylvia Rivera Law Project, named in honour of transgender LGBT rights pioneer Sylvia Rivera.
Other groups to receive money from the show include the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, Equality New York and House Lives Matter.
Murphy recently signed a golden handcuffs deal that will see him develop new shows exclusively for Netflix.
Ryan Murphy (Frazer Harrison/Getty)
Murphy—whose existing shows air on Fox-owned networks—announced the new deal with Netflix in February, promising that his upcoming shows for the streaming giant will continue to “champion LGBTQ heroes and heroines.”
Murphy said: “The history of this moment is not lost on me.
“I am a gay kid from Indiana who moved to Hollywood in 1989 with $55 dollars in savings in my pocket, so the fact that my dreams have crystallised and come true in such a major way is emotional and overwhelming to me.
“I am awash in genuine appreciation for Ted Sarandos, Reed Hastings and Cindy Holland at Netflix for believing in me and the future of my company which will continue to champion women, minorities and LGBTQ heroes and heroines, and I am honoured and grateful to continue my partnership with my friends and peers at Fox on our existing shows.”
He has at least two upcoming Netflix shows in development, The Politician and Ratched.
