Ralph felt less happy as he watched Quinta Brunson, the creator and star of Abbott Elementary, accept the honor for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Weries — the second black woman to win in that category. Except it had nothing to do with Branson. Her feelings were directed at Jimmy Kimmel as the late-night host lay on the stage near the podium while Brunson delivered her speech as part of a theme that didn’t go so well. “I was absolutely confused,” Ralph said Wednesday during a mock panel of the Television Critics Association summer press tour, according to reports. “I didn’t know what was going on. I was like, ‘I wish this man would get off the ground.’ And then I realized it was Jimmy Kimmel, and I was like, ‘Oh, the disrespect, Jimmy!’ But that’s just me.” Ralph laughed and added sarcastically, “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, it was great that he was lying on the floor during her great acceptance speech!” Ralph didn’t keep her feelings to herself. “And I told him! To his face!” said on Jimmy Kimmel Live! host. “And he understood.” Sheryl Lee Ralph and Quinta Brunson with the rest of the cast of ‘Abbott Elementary’. (Photo: ABC/Pamela Littky) At the same event, Branson herself again addressed what happened. (She said in the press room after the show that the incident didn’t bother her too much and noted that it was Kimmel who gave her her first late-night slot. She said she was scheduled to be a guest on his show Wednesday: “Tomorrow I might be mad at him .”) “I predict we’re going to have a good old-fashioned time,” Branson said of her appearance. “I’ve talked to Jimmy since then, and I think no matter what, it’s important to show that Abbott Elementary premieres next week. It’s going to be a good time, and you should probably just tune in and watch.” The story continues While Branson was lenient, the Internet agreed with Ralph that the gag was a miss. Kimmel’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, the comedian joked to Entertainment Tonight at an Emmys afterparty what was going on with him at the time: “My eyes were closed, I had no idea where I was,” he said. “It was one of the weirdest things that ever happened to me.” She also had a serious crush on Branson. “She’s so incredibly talented. And I saw her pilot before it came out on ABC, and I wrote her and said, ‘I don’t know how we got this, but congratulations.’ You made a pilot that the network would be ecstatic to pick up,” Kimmel said. “He’s also a wonderful person.”
