"General Hospital" actress Nancy Lee Grahn has apologized for attacking Viola Davis on Sunday after Davis became the first black woman to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role on ABC's "How to Get Away with Murder."
"I apologize for my earlier tweets and now realize I need to check my own privilege," Grahn wrote Monday on Twitter,
Variety reported.
"My intention was not to take this historic and important moment from Viola Davis or other women of color but I realize that my intention doesn’t matter here because that is what I ended up doing. I learned a lot tonight and I admit that there are still some things I don’t understand but I am trying to and will let this be a learning experience for me."
On the night Davis, 50, accepted her award, she quoted Harriet Tubman, and advocated for Hollywood creating more roles for black people and women.
"You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there. So here's to all the writers, the awesome people that are Ben Sherwood, Paul Lee, Peter Nowalk, Shonda Rhimes, people who have redefined what it means to be beautiful, to be sexy, to be a leading woman, to be black," she said from the stage.
"And to the Taraji P. Hensons, the Kerry Washingtons, the Halle Berrys, the Nicole Beharies, the Meagan Goods, to Gabrielle Union: Thank you for taking us over that line. Thank you to the Television Academy. Thank you."
After Davis' speech, Grahn launched into a series of angry tweets.
"Im a f***ing actress for 40 yrs. None of us get respect or opportunity we deserve," Grahn wrote in a now deleted tweet. "Emmys not venue 4 racial opportunity. ALL women belittled."
"I think she's the bees knees but she's elite of TV performers. Brilliant as she is. She has never been discriminated against," Grahn continued,
The Daily Mail reported.
"Viola Davis winning lead actress Emmy's historic. My upset is acting awards dont fix racial injustice. As an actor I see how irrelevant we r," she wrote.
Several people on Twitter accused Grahn of minimizing Davis' accomplishment and being a racist.
Soon enough, Grahn began backpedaling.
"I never mean to diminish her accomplishment. I wish I could get her roles. She is a goddess. I want equality 4 ALL women, not just actors," she wrote.
"30 yrs an advocate 4 human rights & now i'm a racist. Color me heartbroken. Twitter can bring out the best & sadly tonight the worst of us."
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.