We Know What "An Upset" Is. We Still Wouldn't Call Zendaya's Emmy Win That.

Source: Frank Ockenfels / Getty

On Sunday night, Zendaya took home her very first Emmy award for her work as Rue in Euphoria, and it was a historic win at that.

The 24-year-old became the youngest actress to take home the award for leading actress in a drama. The feat was a huge deal, considering the competition she was up against in the category: Jennifer Aniston, Laura Linney, Oscar winner Olivia Colman, and previous winners Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer of the BBC hit Killing Eve. It was great news considering how the Television Academy tends to lean when it comes to major acting categories. But was it an “upset”?

The New York Post seemed to think so. They shared a Tweet on Monday about her win that read, “Biggest upset: Zendaya wins Emmys 2020 over Jennifer Aniston, Laura Linney.”

Some people were immediately confused by the publication’s choice of words:

An upset, by dictionary terms, is “an unexpected victory.” But her win is an upset based on what exactly? Were people betting? Was she the unexpected winner because she was the youngest in the category? Was it because her series wasn’t nominated in the Outstanding Drama category? Or maybe it was because she hasn’t won some of the big awards the women she was up against have? I get all that, but I would agree that this was a poor choice of words — and overall, incorrect. She is not a newbie, her work hadn’t received a hot and cold reaction, and most notably, she was damn good as Rue.

I get it. Everyone loves The Crown and raved about The Morning Show. Killing Eve has been an Emmys fave and who hasn’t been impressed with Ozark and conversed about it back when water cooler talk at the office was an accessible thing? To some, perhaps Euphoria came off as a series mostly enjoyed and appreciated by young people, and the youth don’t vote for Emmys, nor do they often win them. But Zendaya’s performance, to me, was the one out of all the nominees that required the most shapeshifting. It was also the performance I noticed people on social media talking about the most, just for the range the star was able to show. She has spent the majority of her career on the Disney Channel, playing safe, lovable and comical characters for kids. The most risque she’d gone before the HBO hit was playing a trapeze artist in The Greatest Showman and MJ in Spider-Man: Far From Home. So to morph into an ongoing, sometimes recovering drug addict who finds herself in the middle of way too many ominous situations while simultaneously trying to deal with unrequited love for a friend, and to do so effectively, is worthy of praise. She not only had to be convincing, but she had to be good enough to completely shed the layers of her bubblegum beginnings. She did that, one depressive episode, overdose flashback and slow heartbreak at a time for eight episodes.

For the record, the New York Post would write about “Zendaya fans” misunderstanding their use of “upset”:

But I think people more so just wanted to make it clear that she was deserving of her place in history. Not only that, but they also wanted her win to be about her, and not about a conversation ruminating over who people thought should have prevailed in the category but didn’t. Despite whom critics may have assumed would take home the Emmy on Sunday, it was Zendaya who ultimately won, and she was incredibly deserving of the moment. So some are free to call it “an upset,” but we call it the sweet fruits of a job well done.

Check out other opinions about the Emmy winner’s historic moment by hitting the flip:

https://twitter.com/yngtaco/status/1308061164396478464

Source: ABC / Getty

Twitter user @shanikharris said of the situation, there is no confusion on the part of fans.

“Zendaya‘s fans aren’t mistaking the meaning. We understand the subtext of the term. We are not upset that she won the Emmy award because we saw her performance. You are using the word to mean that she was the underdog. We always viewed our Queen as the front runner in the race,” she wrote. 

Source: ABC / Getty

One Twitter user said Euphoria was a huge topic of conversation last year, so her win shouldn’t have been a shock to anyone.

“I know what context they are using the word “upset” but was it really an upset?” asked Twitter user @tyelokam. “Zendaya and Euphoria was all anyone was talking about all year.”

Source: FilmMagic / Getty

Twitter user @maurachanz said despite the correct use of the term “upset,” that doesn’t make it the right fit to talk about Zendaya’s win. She said it used in “poor taste.”

“Zendaya’s win was an upset in that it was unexpected in comparison to the veteran actresses she was up against. Again, still in poor taste”

Source: FilmMagic / Getty

Twitter user @adriennelwarren said that of course people would consider Zendaya’s win an “upset” since she’s a young Black woman making history.

“When a black woman makes HISTORY…. They call it an upset. SHINE @Zendaya, SSSSHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNEEE!”

Plenty of people argued that the matter wasn’t about race, but what say you?

Source: Gregg DeGuire / Getty

“jennifer aniston’s last starring role on tv was friends. zendaya’s been acting her a– off on tv for a decade,” wrote Twitter user @j_ogun. “somehow jennifer aniston was expected to win over zendaya. both performances were phenomenal but let’s not kid ourselves about why this win is considered an ‘upset'”

Source: Gary Miller / Getty

Twitter user @AsiaChloeBrown said that people underestimated how much of an impact young people can have, even on big awards shows like the Emmys.

“Folks are saying ‘upset’ means unexpected and that folks don’t understand the headline, but who did not expect Zendaya to win?” she asked. “Euphoria was a huge cultural moment and the youth OFTEN determine who wins awards.”

Source: CHRIS DELMAS / Getty

@DtCamJensen said the use of the word “upset” creates a distraction from the fact that Zendaya took home the Emmy last night, and that’s exactly the problem in her opinion. 

“The fact that we’re even having to harp on this instead of celebrating @Zendaya‘s historic #emmy win is e x a c t l y the point people are making about ‘Upset’ being in poor taste,” she wrote. 

Source: WENN/Avalon / WENN

@El_ChocoTaco said people are only calling it an “upset” because they were looking for another actress to win the award and are mad it didn’t happen. It wasn’t meant to be. 

“Congrats @Zendaya. That background tho! The whole support system is a VIBE!” he said of her family and team. “Ain’t no upset. They’re just upset.”

Source: FayesVision/WENN.com / WENN

User @tenilleclark1 broke it down like this: “An ‘upset’ can easily intonate that somehow Zendaya was not deserving of the accolade, especially for people who choose not to read the article in its entirety (which we know are many). That headline could have been more responsibly worded + can read as inflammatory. That’s all.”