Emmy Nominee Blasts Jay Leno for Shocking Late-Night Snub

What Now? with Trevor Noah/YouTube Emmy-nominated actress Tracee Ellis Ross called out late-night TV’s major blind spot—and called out Jay Leno by name.

Ross appeared on What Now? with Trevor Noah , where she reflected on feeling ostracized by the industry during her sitcom Girlfriends ’ eight-year run from 2000 to 2008.

The long-running series was overlooked by major awards bodies, save for a Cinematography Emmy nod for its third season—and Ross said the stars were never offered talk show appearances.

“No Tonight Show , no David Letterman, no Emmys.

Had never been to the Emmys,” she recalled.

Ross has since been nominated for five consecutive Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, for her role as Rainbow Johnson in Black-ish .

She also earned a daytime nod for her travel show, Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross .

But it took a suspiciously long time for her to earn that recognition, she said, pointing to Leno’s Tonight Show as a prime example.

“As a matter of fact, I have a story,” she began.

“It was Jay Leno.

And I had Girlfriends, and the comment was, ‘We love Tracee.

Call us when she gets something.’” Ross was still the lead in the long-running comedy series at the time, which she said had been completely ignored.

“I was like, I remember thinking, ‘Get what? What else do you have to get?’ I don’t know.

And it just was… ‘We love her,’ but it was not considered.” To make matters worse, she saw at least one guest on Leno’s show at the time whose show was not nearly as popular as Girlfriends .