15 Unforgettable Emmy Moments, From Charlie Sheen’s Cool Conduct to Sean Spicer’s Sketch (Photos)
The Emmys may not be the wildest awards show in town (here’s looking at you, VMAs), but when their scripts are thrown out and they’ve got a golden lady in hand, TV stars have been known to get a little shocking with a cringeworthy rant or bit that went a bit too far. As the 2019 show airs Sunday, TheWrap looks back at 15 of the most talked about moments in the 71 year history of the Emmys.
During last year’s Emmys, Sterling K. Brown gave a powerful — albeit brief — speech when he won Best Actor in a Drama Series for “This Is Us.” Producers cut the NBC star not long after he started talking, a move that got them a ton of heat, as winner Nicole Kidman went on and on during her acceptance speech for her role on “Big Little Lies.” Brown took it in stride, but joked with Stephen Colbert after, “Not everybody can be pretty Australian white women who have won Oscars in the past.”
Patty Duke’s speech — or lack thereof — at the 1970 awards show was one of the most bizarre incidents in the history of the Emmys. The actress came on stage, but didn’t make eye contact with the presenter and mumbled inaudibly for a little while until everyone felt uncomfortable. Years later, Duke would open up about her struggles with addiction and mental illness that would help to shed a little more light on the weird turn of events.
2. Things get Spicey
Sean Spicer showed up at the Emmys to make a callback joke to his insistence that Donald Trump had the “largest audience ever” at his inauguration by insisting the 69th Annual Emmy Awards had the most people in attendance ever — period. It appeared to be awkward for everyone in that audience — period.
4. Alan Alda gets physical
Before wardrobe malfunctions on the red carpet and concerns about celebs letting f-bombs fly on-air, the Emmys were tame So tame that when Alan Alda won outstanding writing for a comedy series for “M*A*S*H” during the Emmys’ 31st year (his first win for writing), the spontaneous cartwheel he did startled the audience. For real, a cartwheel. Hey, it was 1979.
5. Sofia Vergra gets put on a pedestal
In a bit that was meant to poke fun at sexism, Sofia Vergara stood on a rotating platform during the 66th Primetime Emmys, while TV Academy CEO Bruce Rosenblum talked about diversity saying, “What truly matters is that we never forget that our success is based on always giving the viewer something compelling to watch.” Then Vergara touched her butt. The 2014 moment was criticized for making light of a rampant problem in the industry.
4. Jimmy blames Mark Burnett
Jimmy Kimmel used his platform as the host of the 68th Annual Emmys to call out reality TV mega-producer Mark Burnett for the part he played in helping former “Celebrity Apprentice” host Donald Trump rise to fame and cinch the 2016 presidential nomination. While Trump had yet to win at that point, Kimmel promised if he did they’d be throwing Burnett over whatever wall POTUS built.
7. Jon Hamm doesn’t give a damn
Jon Hamm was nominated for a billion Emmys (exaggeration) before finally winning for his role as Don Draper on “Mad Men” at the 2015 Emmys. When the former AMC star’s name was called, he was so blown over from the excitement he decided to climb onto the stage instead of use the stairs. Hamm joked he was worried there had been a mistake. Eh, the only mistake was messing up that tux, Jon.
8. Kirstie Alley overshares
Kirstie Alley’s 1991 win for best lead actress in a comedy series was followed up with an acceptance speech about how her then-husband Parker Stevenson was “the man who has given me the big one for the last eight years.” Uh, OK. The dirty joke was especially awkward since a young Macaulay Culkin was the presenter.
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