By Luis Mila
The 69th annual Emmys were opened by Stephen Colbert, with a comedic song and dance along to “Everything’s Better on TV” featuring Chance the Rapper. Naturally full of wit, Colbert sparked controversy with his political jokes and shady humor to fellow celebrities and government officials. Publications like the Huffington Post and The New York Times have even joined in on “snubbing” Trump, as he so calls it.
Boycotting Emmy Awards since I was once again viciously SNUBBED! No nominations for my latest reality/comedy show, "The Amazing Racist"!
— DONALD J. TRUMPier (@Trumptweets2020) September 17, 2017
Many of these Trump jokes ultimately resulted in low ratings, downing 10% since last year’s all time low. Of these jokes thrown out during the Emmy’s most populous crowd, was one by the former white house press secretary, Sean Spicer, who made a surprise appearance, and impersonated Trump’s speech and other reports of his exaggerations of the attendees at the presidential inauguration. During Colbert’s opening introduction to the Emmys, he brings up Trump’s previous nomination of ‘Celebrity Apprentice’, and never winning the award.
Furthermore, Alec Baldwin, a comedic actor won an Emmy for playing a teasing role of Trump, and said “At long last, Mr.President, here is your Emmy.” Consequently, Colbert says, this loss made Trump run for president to receive an honor of “equal equivalence”.
You’ll never guess who who made an appearance at the Emmy awards to poke fun at President Trump. pic.twitter.com/KgoagBzW5B
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) September 18, 2017
Alec Baldwin, who just won an Emmy for playing Trump: "At long last, Mr. President, here is your Emmy" https://t.co/PBt3aZA8oA
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 18, 2017
Seth Meyers, a former host, called out Trump’s public criticism of his hosting skills. Quoting a few of Trump’s rampaging tweets that criticized Meyers, it is evident there was still some bitterness.
“That Seth Meyers is hosting the Emmy Awards is a total joke. He is very awkward with almost no talent. Marbles in his mouth!” said Trump before.
Everyone's losing their marbles at the #Emmys ! pic.twitter.com/v6zMytSfAV
— CBS (@CBS) September 18, 2017
While a lot of these jokes caught the crowd’s attention, one managed to spark major dispute, and regret. Sean Spicer’s cameo, where he impersonated Trump and his exaggerated expressions of the attendees at the presidential inauguration, wowed the crowd, leaving their mouths wide open and eyes bulged in shock and laughter. Spicer was somewhat idolized for his act, evident in a writer for the Hollywood Reporter’s tweets, that showed grand celebration. It’s safe to assume that a majority of viewers shared a stunned yet laughable experience to the whole piece.
Spicer hadn’t notified the president or senior White House staff about his appearance at the Emmy’s, in fact, just about no one even knew about this plan. Spicer continues to say Colbert planned the whole skit himself. On his way out of Washington, to LA for the Emmy Awards, he equipped a disguise and checked into a hotel. On rehearsals, Spicer’s name hadn’t even been printed, simply replaced by a conspicuous “S”. Spicer regrets this act somewhat, seeing the backlash, and hopes president Trump takes no offense from this surprise at the Emmy’s.
As the night continued, more and more laughs were audible throughout the crowd, more jokes were shared, and speeches accompanied their awards. Sadly, this wasn’t the case for Sterling K. Brown. His speech was cut short after he received his award, causing outrage and backlash, not only because it’s rude to cut someone off mid-speech, but because Brown just so happened to be the first black actor to win the Outstanding Lead Actor in a drama series since 1988. Brown thanked his fans, his cast mates friends who played as other characters in other shows. As he continued his thank-yous, music cut him off, and the camera panned away from the center stage. Emmy viewers were furious. Some took to twitter for displaying their thoughts on the topic:
That was a great speech by Sterling K. Brown — and it would've continued to be great, had it been allowed to. #Emmys
— Dan Snierson (@dansnierson) September 18, 2017
https://twitter.com/ira/status/909611624364883969
I am extremely disturbed that they cut the mic of and played that loud obnoxious music while Sterling K. Brown was giving his speech #Emmys
— JAMILLA🌻 (@lifeasjamilla) September 18, 2017
Brown was able to finish the rest of his speech backstage, which Variety on Twitter was able to film. In the video, Brown accepts the fact that he was cut off, and seems quite bothered he couldn’t finish thanking his writers, producers, and directors for their guidance and friendship. Brown continues his speech with a bright smile and wide eyes, grateful that he can thank all the people who helped him throughout his career. This expression changes to a rather sharp one when he addresses the fact he was never able to thank his wife and sons, sighing in frustration and kissing his teeth. He concludes saying he loves his family and he’ll see them after work. Brown answers a few questions after his speech and the video then ends.
Sterling K. Brown just finished his best actor speech backstage after getting cut off during CBS' live telecast (Watch) #Emmys pic.twitter.com/0X7KiZrkIj
— Variety (@Variety) September 18, 2017
At the end of the night, with all the juicy gossip, the controversy, the shade, and the clever humor, the Emmy’s still went through another loss, suffering another drop with a 2% decline. Redstate says this is because of the comments on personal beliefs, political party, social status, and more made that somewhat belittle those not of the same level. Regardless, it is safe to say that those who watched the 69th annual Emmys overall had enjoyed it.
