By Beth Harris
LOS ANGELES (AP) --"The Young and the Restless" won best drama at the first virtual Daytime Emmys along with three acting trophies on Friday night, with some winners speaking out about racial injustice.
Ellen DeGeneres accepted the trophy for best entertainment talk show for her self-titled program.
"I intend to use the next two years of my show as a platform for change, to amplify voices of Black people and people of color and to educate my audience," she said from home. "More than ever, I feel like this is a responsibility to effect change."
CBS' "The Young and the Restless," whose co-creator Lee Philip Bell died in February at age 91, earned four other trophies in technical categories.
Jason Thompson, who plays Billy Abbott on "The Young and the Restless," won his first Daytime Emmy for lead actor in a drama series. He becomes the third actor who has played the part to win. David Tom did so in 2000, and Billy Miller won in 2010, 2013 and 2014. Thompson had been nominated five previous times for his stint on "General Hospital," but didn't win.
Bryton James of "Y&R" earned supporting actor honors, while Eva LaRue won for guest performer on the show.
"The world is fighting against racial injustice and it's our responsibility as the human race to educate ourselves and take action, because until we all can acknowledge and empathize with the problem there will always be a problem," James said from his sofa.
Alex Trebek won best game show host for the second straight year and "Jeopardy!" claimed game show honors.
At 79, Trebek continues to preside over the popular quiz show while battling pancreatic cancer. In March, he announced he had survived one year of treatment. Taping of the show has since been suspended during the coronavirus pandemic, which has affected talk shows and daytime dramas.
"I'll be honest with you, this one is a shock, very surprising to me," Trebek said. "Speaking as one who has now been nominated 32 times and won seven times, I think I can say with some degree of authority that winning is nicer."
Heather Tom of "The Bold and the Beautiful" earned lead dramatic actress honors for her longtime role of Katie Logan. Tamara Braun of "General Hospital" won as supporting actress.
Singer Kelly Clarkson won best entertainment talk show host for the first season of her eponymous show.
"Watch out @johnlegend I'm comin' for that EGOT status," Clarkson tweeted, referring to her fellow singer's victories at the Emmys, Grammys, Oscars and Tony awards.
The team from "General Hospital" won directing honors, while best writing went to the team from "The Bold and the Beautiful."
Other winners included ABC's "The View" for informative talk show and NBC's "Today" for morning show.
Olivia Rose Keegan of "Days of Our Lives" won for younger actor or actress in a drama series.
The women of "The Talk" — Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood, Eve, Carrie Ann Inaba and Marie Osmond — presided over the two-hour telecast on CBS. The 47th annual awards were back on a broadcast network for the first time since 2011 after being relegated to cable or streaming in recent years.
Nominees, presenters and hosts checked in remotely instead of gathering at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, where the show was to be held June 12.
Sean “Diddy” Combs seeks bail, citing changed circumstances and new evidence
Sean "Diddy" Combs filed a new request for bail on Friday, saying changed circumstances, along with new evidence, mean the hip-hop mogul should be allowed to prepare for a May trial from outside jail.
Lawyers for Combs filed the request in Manhattan federal court, where his previous requests for bail have been rejected by two judges since his September arrest on racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges that he coerced and abused women for years with help from a network of associates and employees, while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
He has been awaiting a May 5 trial at a federal detention facility in Brooklyn.
In their new court filing, lawyers for Combs say they are proposing a "far more robust" bail package that would subject the entertainer to strict around-the-clock security monitoring and near-total restrictions on his ability to contact anyone but his lawyers. But the amount of money they attach to the package remains $50 million, as they proposed before.
They also cite new evidence that they say "makes clear that the government's case is thin." That evidence, the lawyers said, refutes the government's claim that a March 2016 video showing Combs physically assaulting his then-girlfriend occurred during a coerced "freak off," a sexually driven event described in the indictment against Combs.
They wrote that the encounter was instead "a minutes-long glimpse into a complex but decade-long consensual relationship" between Combs and his then-girlfriend.
The lawyers argued that the jail conditions Combs is experiencing at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn violate his constitutional... Read More