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The Emmy Awards, while not as infamously disastrous as the Oscars, are certainly no well-oiled machine in their own right, as evidenced by the absolutely awful “joke” Jimmy Kimmel played while Abbott Elementary creator Quinta Brunson accepted her first-ever Emmy Award.
The crux of the “bit” is that Kimmel’s late-night show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, has been nominated for and lost Best Writing in a Comedy Series for 13 straight years. As a result, Kimmel and the Emmys producers thought it’d be “funny” for the 54-year-old man to lay motionless on the stage while the 32-year-old Brunson attempted to give her acceptance speech.
Jimmy Kimmel is getting crushed for taking the spotlight away from Quinta Brunson’s acceptance speech with a cringeworthy bit
Will Arnett dragged a seemingly passed-out Kimmel onto the stage, with Arnett quipping to the crowd that this is the “13th time in a row that he’s lost and he just got into the skinny margaritas back there.” When Brunson took the stage to accept the prize for her ABC series Abbott Elementary, which was her first-ever Emmy, Kimmel remained onstage.
Arnett tried to push Kimmel out of the way to make room for the winner, with Brunson telling him, “Jimmy, wake up. I won.” Kimmel gave her a thumbs-up but continued to lie down on the stage throughout the speech, and it wasn’t until after Brunson was done that Arnett dragged him back off. [via The Hollywood Reporter]
Following the incredibly awkward and ill-conceived moment, television fans who were watching the ceremony took to Twitter to absolutely torch Kimmel for his decision:
Jimmy Kimmel should have left the stage during Quinta’s speech. Highly disrespectful #Emmys
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) September 13, 2022
yall dragging jimmy kimmel and it’s what he deserves
— king crissle (@crissles) September 13, 2022
jimmy kimmel laying on the floor while quinta has her moment is extremely irritating
— Connor Perrett (@connorperrett) September 13, 2022
The choice to make Quinta Brunson step over Jimmy Kimmel to get to the mic and then play her off early was atrocious. #Emmys
— Hunter Ingram (@hunter_wesley) September 13, 2022
Not really feeling Jimmy Kimmel staying on the ground while Quinta is accepting her award. Joke was stale
— Jerrold Smith II (@jerroldhtims) September 13, 2022
Considering that this wildly uncomfortable moment represented Kimmel’s idea of humor, perhaps it’s no surprise that his show has been losing the Best Comedy Writing race for over a decade.
To her credit, while speaking to reporters following the ceremony, the endless charming Brunson was a good sport and revealed that she’ll be on Kimmel’s show on Wednesday, so perhaps she’ll “punch him in the face” then. And if you haven’t checked out Abbott Elementary yet, go do so on Hulu, because it’s an absolute delight.
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