"The only thing that separates women of colour from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win Emmys with roles that are simply not there."
Davis was one of three African-American actresses to win yesterday, alongside Orange is the New Black star Uzo Aduba and American Crime's Regina King, who both won for supporting performances.
Peter Dinklage nabbed the best supporting drama actor award for Game of Thrones, which also won writing and directing trophies.
On the comedy side, political satire Veep claimed the top series award, while its stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tony Hale claimed best actress in a comedy and best supporting actor in a comedy, respectively.
Transparent emerged as an early winner, granting Jeffrey Tambor a best comedy actor trophy and Jill Soloway a directing award, and giving both a chance to pay tribute to the show's transgender themes.
"I'd like to dedicate my performance and this award to the transgender community ... Thanks for letting us be part of the change," said Tambor, who plays a man journeying toward womanhood.
Mini-series Olive Kitteridge, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Elizabeth Strout, dominated its categories, winning six prizes.
Spoiler alert
It was supposed to be a moving tribute to a series of popular TV shows that screened their final seasons this year.
Instead, the segment in which the Emmys farewelled programmes like Boardwalk Empire, Sons of Anarchy and Mad Men had fans complaining that shows they hadn't yet finished watching had been spoiled for them.
The segment aired halfway through the broadcast, with a series of scenes mashed together from departing shows like The Newsroom, Parks and Recreation, Two and a Half Men, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and Cougar Town.
A tweet from the official Emmys account called it "a truly poignant" montage.
But it was the inclusion of finales from popular dramas - some of which showed main characters dying - that really annoyed viewers.
Many viewers slammed the Emmys for ruining seasons - or entire series - of shows they had planned to watch, with one calling it "poorly thought out".
Hosting horrors
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
star Andy Samberg stepped up as host for the first time - and possibly the last.
A series of half-baked jokes peppered the night, regularly met with uncomfortable silence or only the weakest of tittering.
One of the most groan-inducing moments came when Samberg told the audience he hadn't seen "Olive Kitteridge. I've only seen half of Kitteridge". Ho ho ... no.
He also paid tribute to Lena Dunham's hit series Girls, by burying his face in the buttocks of an over-sized Emmy statue.
Red hot carpet
Temperatures soared past 32C on the red carpet, prompting the stars to mop their brows, touch up their make-up and discuss their top tips for staying cool.
Taraji P. Henson of Empire used a cardboard fan to create a breeze for herself, while actress Jaimie Alexander used an electric fan from the moment she stepped on to the red carpet, putting it away only to take photos.
Alexander ditched the fan later on, but Modern Family's Ariel Winter used one before entering the venue.
The men were faring little better, with Pablo Schreiber fanning himself with his hands and Jonathan Banks ditching his tuxedo jacket and telling fans: "You know how stupid we all are to be out in this!"
Allison Janney was caught still holding blotting paper as she got on stage to accept her award for best supporting actress in a comedy, admitting she was still cooling down after entering the venue.
