Read Michaela Coel’s Powerful Emmys Speech in Full

Michaela Coel took home an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for HBO’s I May Destroy You—and her speech was powerful. Read it for yourself, below. 

“I just wrote a little something for writers, really. Write the tale that scares you, that makes you feel uncertain, that is uncomfortable. I dare you. In a world that entices us to browse through the lives of others to help us better determine how we feel about ourselves, and to, in turn, feel the need to be constantly visible, for visibility these days seems to somehow equate to success. Do not be afraid to disappear, from it, from us, for a while, and see what comes to you in the silence. 

Thank you to Casey Bloys, Amy Gravitt, Piers Wenger, and Various Artists Limited, for two of the best years of my life. I dedicate this award to every single survivor of sexual assault. Thank you.” 

Michaela Coel created I May Destroy You, which centers on a London writer who struggles to remember the hazy events of a night out. 

“I think that this is the tip of the iceberg in terms of using fiction to really bring audiences to quite personal, challenging and dark places and asking audiences to question the world around them,” Coel told Variety. “The way people received the show, as we would say in London, gave me vim.”

And on the subject of awards, she said, “When you are nominated for something and you have to make a speech, I’m forced to practice the act of gratitude again. So, I remember all over again how incredible it is that all these people watched my show, that all these people helped me create the show that has spoken to and stimulated so many people in the world that I found myself nominated on this list.”