Ramy Wins Golden Globe; ‘Allahu Akbar,’ Rutgers Student Says

NEWARK, NJ — Ramy Youssef, a former student at Rutgers-Newark, made his home state proud with a win at the Golden Globe awards last weekend.

Youssef, who grew up in Rutherford, captured an award for “Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy” on Sunday. The award was a huge milestone for Hulu’s “Ramy,” which the 28-year-old actor created. The show is entering its second season.

Youssef offered a proud nod to his identity as an Arab Muslim – and the power of streaming video services – when he accepted his award.

“I would like to thank my God: Allahu akbar,” Youssef said. “Thank you, God. This is thanks to God and Hulu.”

His win inspired a wave of positive reactions on social media and from journalists, including a writer from Slate who said:

“I’ll admit I’ve got a dumb smile on my face at least partly because both Youssef and I are Egyptian Americans from New Jersey, and it felt like our whole block was up there with him. For the longest time, the only channel that had images of folks who looked like us was the news. But now? We’re walking past Bill Hader and Paul Rudd to collect our Golden Globes.”

“I knew I wanted to make something about Arab Muslims,” Youssef told EW when asked why he developed the show. “I try to be as specific as possible when saying ‘Arab Muslims’ because there are a lot of different Muslims. I’ve never really seen stories about us in America, at least where you had versions of our characters that weren’t framed by violence.”

• See related article: 'Yes Me, A Covered Muslim Woman, Got Elected,' Rutgers Student Says
• See related article: Nutley Native's Film Tackles 'Grief, Islamophobia, Trump' (VIDEO)

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