Niecy Nash Thanks Herself in Emmys Speech, Then Goes Skinny-Dipping

When she appeared onstage to accept the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her work in Dahmer -- Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, the actress gave an emotional speech, in which she thanked herself for continuing to believe in herself throughout both the ups and downs in her career.

"I'm a winner, baby!" Nash exclaimed as she took the stage, before thanking series creator Ryan Murphy, costar Evan Peters, and everyone at Netflix behind the show. She also thanked her "better half," her wife Jessica Betts, for picking her up "when I was gutted from this work."

"You know who I want to thank? I want to thank me," she then said, getting a huge response from the audience. "For believing in me and doing what they said I could not do. I want to say to myself in front of all you beautiful people, go on girl with your bad self. You did that!"

Nash went on to "accept this award on behalf of every Black and Brown woman who has gone unheard, yet over-policed," like the real-life Glenda Cleveland -- who she played on Dahmer -- as well as Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor.

"As an artist, my job is to speak truth to power. And baby, I'm gonna do it until the day I die," she said. "Mama, I won!"

While speaking to reporters backstage, Nash shared why she thanked herself during her speech.

"I'm the only one who knows what it cost me. I'm the only one who knows how many nights I cried because I couldn't be seen for a certain type of role," she said, continuing the empowering message from her speech. "I'm the one who knows what it's like to go through divorce on camera, and still have to pull up and show out, and you still got to go home, and you have children and a whole life."

"I'm proud of myself. I'm proud that I did something that people said I could not do because I believed in me," she continued. "Sometimes people don't believe in themselves, and I hope my speech was a delicious invitation for people to do just that."

"Believe in yourself, and congratulate yourself. Sometimes you got to encourage, what? Yourself," Nash concluded. "And that's why it's not called Mama-esteem, them-esteem, us-esteem, it's called self-esteem, because don't nobody got to believe it, but you."

This marked Nash's first Emmy win. She previously received nominations for Getting On, When They See Us, and Reno 911!: The Hunt For QAnon.

For her role as Glenda Cleveland in Dahmer -- Monster: The Jeffery Dahmer Story, Nash also won the 2023 Critics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Movie/Miniseries, and received nominations at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Nash celebrated her win by going skinny dipping with her wife, with the star sharing a video on her Instagram.

"'Betts' believe we had a timeeee‼️," she captioned the post, above. "I'm a winner baby! 🏆🥂💫❤️🎉."

Before she took a dip in the pool, Nash danced with her Dahmer costar, Evan Peters, at an Emmys after-party. Check out the sweet moment in the gallery, below.