Keke Palmer made history at Sunday’s Creative Arts Emmy Awards. The multi-hyphenate talent snagged the Emmy for Outstanding Host for a Game Show for her work on Password, an NBC reboot that asks participants to compete in a word association game, becoming the first woman in 15 years to do so. She’s also the first Black woman to be nominated, let alone win, the male-dominated category.
Palmer was up against Jeopardy! hosts Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik, Steve Harvey for his work on Family Feud, and Wheel of Fortune’s Pat Sajak. The last woman to win the category was Meredith Vieira for Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? in 2009.
The awards also marked the first time a Password host has been nominated or won the category in 50 years.
Harvey walked away with the award after last year’s ceremony. The late Alex Trebek won it three years before Harvey.
Palmer beamed during her acceptance speech and thanked those responsible for Password and her winning.
“Wow. That is so exciting thank you so much. I’m really just so thankful, I’m almost speechless. I want to thank the people who allowed this to happen, thank you to Jimmy Fallon, thank to NBC,” she said during the ceremony.
She also thanked Carol Burnett, who was in the audience and appeared in the original installment of Password.
This is Palmer’s second Emmy. She received an Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series award for her work on Facebook Watch’s Turnt Up With The Taylors in 2021.