Empire star Taraji P. Henson praised Viola Davis for her Emmy acceptance speech while appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Henson was nominated along with Davis for lead actress in a drama series but Davis took home the win. Davis was the first African American actress to take home to the award within the past 60 years.
When Davis accepted the award, she opened her speech by quoting Harriet Tubman and explained that the only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. "You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there," said Davis.
While Davis was being honored, the camera panned to Henson who was in tears and giving her friend and colleague a standing ovation.
Henson was quick to say that she was very happy for Viola and that she deserved the win. "I think the universe is happy Viola deserved that award, and honestly I would have felt weird if I had gotten it over her. She’s been doing it longer. You just got to give respect and know when your time is," explained Henson. "I feel like the universe needed to hear that message last night. Had I won, it wouldn’t have been that message. ... But I just think the universe orders up what it needs when it needs it. And I think the world needed to hear what she had to say last night."