Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Emmys 2016: Watch Leslie Jones fire back at the trolls who hacked her Twitter account

Constance Grady
Constance Grady is a senior correspondent on the Culture team for Vox, where since 2016 she has covered books, publishing, gender, celebrity analysis, and theater.

In what is surely an unprecedented move, the Emmys made the annual accounting segment something worth rewatching — and it’s all thanks to Leslie Jones.

Shortly after the wild celebrations that ensued after Jones’s fellow SNL cast member/Ghostbuster Kate McKinnon won her Emmy, Jones took to the stage with the Emmys accountants as they explained the work that goes into keeping the Emmys results confidential and untampered-with.

But as Jones pointed out, the accountants are putting all that work into something that no one really cares about, when they should be looking after what actually matters: Jones’s Twitter account, which was famously hacked by alt-right trolls in August.

No one, after all, really cares that much about whether Jeffrey Tambor was going to win this year. (We all knew he was; we’ve seen award shows before.) But Jones cares a whole lot about her nudes showing up on CNN. “I just wanted to feel beautiful, y’all,” she told the audience.

The whole segment was a ballsy move on Jones’s part. It is, sadly, common enough for actresses to have to deal with their nude photos being hacked and displayed to the entire internet that there are a few standard publicist-approved scripts to choose from. What’s in vogue right now is to decry the invasion of privacy and then steadfastly ignore any other mentions of the hack, with maybe a single angry interview thrown in there for variety.

In addressing the attacks head on, Jones took control of the narrative. She made her point of view the only one that matters — and she made it hilarious.

More in Culture

Advice
What trainers actually think about the 12-3-30 workoutWhat trainers actually think about the 12-3-30 workout
Advice

Have we finally unlocked exercise’s biggest secret? Or is this yet another lie perpetrated Big Treadmill?

By Alex Abad-Santos
Technology
The case for AI realismThe case for AI realism
Technology

AI isn’t going to be the end of the world — no matter what this documentary sometimes argues.

By Shayna Korol
Podcasts
How fan fiction went mainstreamHow fan fiction went mainstream
Podcast
Podcasts

The community that underpins Heated Rivalry, explained.

By Danielle Hewitt and Noel King
Culture
Why Easter never became a big secular holiday like ChristmasWhy Easter never became a big secular holiday like Christmas
Culture

Hint: The Puritans were involved.

By Tara Isabella Burton
Culture
The sticky, sugary history of PeepsThe sticky, sugary history of Peeps
Culture

A few things you might not know about Easter’s favorite candy.

By Tanya Pai
The Highlight
The return of resistance craftingThe return of resistance crafting
The Highlight

Want to fight fascism? Join a knitting circle.

By Anna North