Taraji P. Henson Emmy Loss, 'Empire' Actress Talks Bittersweet Award Snub

Taraji P. Henson talked about her Emmy loss with Ellen DeGeneres, with the Empire actress speaking on award snub being "bittersweet." The Hollywood star was the light of the 2015 Emmy Awards this past weekend, as she showed her enthusiastic support for her friends, including Regina King, throughout the evening. Despite her support and love for others, she unfortunately did not win her big nomination of the evening, Best Lead Actress in a Drama series.

The Emmy went to Viola Davis for her role in How To Get Away With Murder, making her the first African American woman to win the award in history. On her way to the stage, Davis and Henson gave each other a big hug, with the winner name-dropping the Empire star in her speech. Not to be overlooked is Henson's place in that award history as was the first time two African American women were up for that award at the same time.

This week, Henson appeared on DeGeneres’ talk show, where she talked about the loss, calling it “bittersweet.” “It was like bittersweet, you know what I mean? Because we all want to make history and be important to society. Then I thought about it and was like, ‘It’s 2015, we have a black president and no black woman has ever won in this category. This is weird!’ So when I went into it, and I knew I was being nominated alongside Viola, I just thought to myself, ‘God, just please give it to one of us so we’ll never have to say that again. Let’s just break this barrier down and keep on pushing” she told the talk show host.

Henson made sure to give all the credit that Davis deserved for winning the award, despite her popular role as Cookie Lyon being snubbed. “And I think the universe is happy. Viola deserved that award, and honestly, I would’ve felt weird if I would’ve gotten it over her,” continued Henson, explaining, “She’s been doing it longer. You just gotta give respect, and know when your time is.” She went on to say “the universe needed to hear” Davis’ message, and quips, “Had I won, it wouldn’t have been that message,” she confessed.

Henson will have another opportunity for an Emmy nomination, as the second season of Empire premieres tomorrow night on Fox.