Jean Smart Gets Standing Ovation After Winning Best Comedy Actress

There was some stiff competition in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category at the 2024 Emmy Awards.

Jean Smart ultimately won the award for Hacks during the Sunday, September 15, ceremony, which was held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

“Thank you so, so much,” Smart, 73, said after receiving a standing ovation. “It’s very humbling. It really is. I appreciate this because I just don’t get enough attention.”

Smart — who won her third Emmy for playing Deborah Vance on Hacks, and sixth Emmy overall — earned a hearty laugh from the audience when she expressed exhaustion about her show transitioning from HBO Max to Max after its second season.

See the Complete List of 2024 Emmy Awards Nominees and Winners

“Just what we needed, another network,” she joked.

Smart competed against Abbott Elementary’s Quinta Brunson, The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri, Only Murders in the Building’s Selena Gomez, Loot’s Maya Rudolph,  and Palm Royale’s Kristen Wiig in the category.

Prior to the Sunday ceremony, Brunson, 34, was the reigning winner of the award after the 2023 event in January, which was postponed due to the writers and actors unions’ strikes. She was recognized for her portrayal of public school teacher Janine Teagues on the ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary.

“I love making Abbott Elementary so much, and I am so happy to be able to live my dream and act out comedy,” Brunson gushed during her acceptance speech. “I say it every time, but I just love comedy so much that I am so happy to be able to get this.”

Before Brunson’s victory, Smart, 73, won the category for two consecutive years, first in 2021 and then again in 2022. She earned the accolade for her role as stand-up comedian Deborah Vance on the Max series Hacks.

2024 Emmys Red Carpet Arrivals

During her 2021 speech, Smart paid tribute to her late husband, Richard Gilliland, who died in March of that year following a brief illness.

“I have to acknowledge my late husband who passed away six months [ago] yesterday,” she said at the time. “I would not be here without him and without his, kind of, putting his career on the back burner so I could take advantage of all the wonderful opportunities that I have had.”

Edebiri, for her part, previously won her first Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in January for her portrayal of chef Sydney Adamu on the Hulu series The Bear. For the 2024 awards show, she submitted her performance in the lead actress category rather than supporting actress.

As for the other nominees this year, Rudolph, 52, had already won six Emmys prior to the Sunday ceremony. Outside of their lead actress nods, Wiig, 51, and Gomez, 32, have been nominated for 11 and three additional Emmys, respectively.