Emmys 2020: Succession’s Jesse Armstrong takes aim at Trump and Boris Johnson for ‘crummy and uncoordinated’ coronavirus response

Writer dished out a series of ‘un-thank yours’ after ‘Succession’ won for Outstanding Drama Series

Succession creator Jesse Armstrong criticised Boris Johnson and Donald Trump for their response to the coronavirus crisis during last night’s Emmy Awards.

The British writer, who worked on comedies Peep Show and Fresh Meat before creating the HBO series, accepted the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series. This was Succession’s second consecutive win in the category.

With the rest of the cast shown celebrating from their respective homes, Armstrong, who is based in London, used his acceptance speech to present a series of “un-thank yous” after being “robbed of the opportunity to spend this time with our peers and cast and crew”.

“Un-thank you to the virus, for keeping us all apart this year,” Armstrong said. “Un-thank you to President Trump for his crummy and uncoordinated response. Un-thank you to Boris Johnson and his government for doing the same in my country.”

He continued: “Un-thank you to all the nationalists and sort of quasi-nationalist governments in the world who are exactly the opposite of what we need right now. And un-thank you to the media moguls who do so much to keep them in power.”

Armstrong (2nd left) with the cast of HBO's 'Succession' (Getty Images)

Succession is centred around one such mogul, Logan Roy (Brian Cox), who controls a large proportion of the US’s media. The character is said to be inspired by Rupert Murdoch.

The HBO series won a number of big awards during last night’s ceremony, with Armstrong also picking up the award for Writing for a Drama Series and Jeremy Strong, who plays Logan’s son Kendall, taking home the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series gong.

You can find the full list of winners here.