J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell have made history by becoming the first non-binary people to win a Tony Award for acting, as the ceremony took place despite ongoing writers' strikes.
The Tony Awards celebrate theater in all its glory and this year was no different, despite the ceremony going ahead without a script.
The evening was hosted by Ariana DeBose and saw Jodie Comer win the award for Best Actress in a Play for Prima Facie and Leopoldstadt by Tom Stoppard taking home the Best Play award.
The ceremony made history as the first Tony awards for acting were presented to non-binary people, Ghee and Newell.
Ghee picked up the accolade for Best Actor in a Musical for their performance in Some Like It Hot.
"My mother raised me to understand that my gifts that God gave me were not about me. To use them to be effective in the world, to help somebody else's journey," Ghee said during their acceptance speech.
They continued: "So thank you for teaching me how to live, how to love, how to give. For every trans, non-binary, gender-nonconforming human who ever was told you couldn't be, you couldn't be seen, this is for you."
Alongside Ghee, Newell received the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a featured role in a Musical for their part in Shucked, where they play Lulu.
As per NBC, Newell has been blowing people away with their performance, which includes the signature number 'Independently Owned'.
"I'm not gonna hold y'all 'cause it hot in here," Newell said referring to the award. "I have wanted this my entire life… I should not be up here as a queer non-binary fat little baby from Massachusetts. And to anyone who thinks they can't do it - you can do anything you put your mind to."
Other notable moments from the evening saw Kimberly Akimbo win the award for Best Musical, Sean Hayes taking home the award for Best Actor in a Play and Victoria Clark winning Best Actress in a Musical.
Elsewhere during the evening, iconic actor Samuel L. Jackson was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play for his role in The Piano Lesson, and his reaction to not winning has gone viral.
When the winner of the award was being read out, Jackson had a look on his face that seemed to show that he knew he wouldn't win, and he remained somewhat glum while applauding the winner, Brandon Uranowitz.
Despite the night going ahead without a script, it seems like it was a huge success all around, and a big step forward for diversity at awards ceremonies.
