'The Young and the Restless' Wins Best Drama At First Virtual Daytime Emmys

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA/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.

The most-watched and highest-rated daytime drama for the last 31-plus years was renewed in January for four more years, through the 2023-2024 broadcast season, which will officially see the series celebrating its 50th birthday.

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.

(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)