Emmy nomination for Outstanding Edited Interview goes to '60 Minutes' for Kamala episode — yes, you read that right



The controversial "60 Minutes" episode featuring then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris has now been officially nominated for an Emmy — and not for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.

On Thursday, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 2025 News and Docs Emmys. Among the nominees for Outstanding Edited Interview is "The Democratic Ticket," the interview between "60 Minutes" correspondent Bill Whitaker and Harris.

'60 Minutes perpetrated a Giant FRAUD against the American People.'

While "60 Minutes" interviews of major presidential candidates at the peak of election season are nothing new, this interview drew significant criticism after the episode that ultimately aired last October differed notably from a preview of it.

In a preview promoted by CBS News, Harris gave one of her infamous word-salad responses to a question about Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In his question, Whitaker implied that Netanyahu was not "listening" to the Biden-Harris administration.

"Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region," Harris replied in the preview.

However, when the episode aired, Harris gave a less scattered, slightly more germane reply. "We're not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end," she said.

Then-candidate Donald Trump immediately cried foul, claiming that the network had "sliced and diced ('cut and pasted') Lyin' Kamala's answers to questions." He later went so far as to argue that the change amounted to "election interference" and filed a $10 billion lawsuit against CBS News for "doctoring" the interview.

The network eventually released the unedited video footage, as well as a full transcript of the interview, revealing that both clips came in response to the question.

Trump spoke out about the discrepancy as recently as this week, claiming in a Truth Social post that the final answer that aired "was not good" but at least did not "show Gross Incompetence" like the preview answer did.

"In other words, 60 Minutes perpetrated a Giant FRAUD against the American People, the Federal Elections Commission, and the Federal Communications System," Trump railed on Wednesday.

Late last month, "60 Minutes" executive producer Bill Owens announced his resignation, citing an inability "to make independent decisions based on what was right" for the show's audience. Many have speculated that pressure at the network stemmed from Trump's lawsuit, which could be on the verge of a settlement now that both sides have agreed to mediation.

Owens and others at CBS News reportedly strongly oppose settling the lawsuit.

The other nominees for Outstanding Edited Interview are Hoda Kotb's interview of Celine Dion on NBC News, a CBS interview with SCOTUS Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a "20/20" interview with Brittney Griner, and yet another "60 Minutes" interview, this time with Pope Francis.

In response to the nomination of the Harris interview, White House communications director Steven Cheung quipped, "Of course it’s nominated for best editing, because it takes some serious talent to edit Kamala’s answer into something that’s coherent and understandable, which in the end they still failed to do."

CBS News did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

The news Emmy award ceremony is scheduled to air on June 25.

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ESPN pulled trick play on Emmys by submitting fake names then giving trophies to ineligible 'College GameDay' stars: Report



A shocking report from the Athletic reveals that for decades, ESPN has pulled trick plays on the Emmy Awards so that the network could dole out individual trophies to its stars who were not eligible to receive them at the time.

The scandal relates to an old rule forbidding on-air hosts from receiving individual trophies for an Emmy Award given to their show. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the organization which governs the Emmys, implemented the rule to prevent "double-dipping," as hosts were still eligible to win awards in individual categories for the same body of work, the Athletic explained.

That rule was scrapped in 2023.

However, for decades, ESPN did a clever end-around. When submitting shows for award nominations, the network included fake names of people who supposedly worked behind the scenes. Then, when ESPN's shows won, someone would take the trophies awarded to fake people and have them re-engraved to feature the names of real ESPN stars. Those stars would then receive the trophy in the mail, likely completely unaware that they hadn't actually won it.

In all, ESPN sent out "more than 30 of the coveted statuettes" to on-air hosts, the Athletic claimed, many of them to current or former stars on "College GameDay," the iconic show about college football which airs on Saturday mornings during the fall.

Between 2008 and 2018, "College GameDay" won eight Emmys for outstanding weekly studio show. The Athletic examined the credit lists associated with those wins and learned that in almost every case, ESPN had submitted names closely resembling those of real people, claiming that each one was an "associate producer."

According to the Athletic:

Kirk Henry (Kirk Herbstreit), Lee Clark (Lee Corso), Dirk Howard (Desmond Howard), and Tim Richard (Tom Rinaldi) appeared in all seven years. Steven Ponder (Sam Ponder) and Gene Wilson (Gene Wojciechowski) appeared in five from 2014-18. Chris Fulton (Chris Fowler) appeared in 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2015. Shelley Saunders (Shelley Smith) appeared in the 2010 credit list.

However, longtime "SportsCenter" host Linda Cohn may also have received Emmys she didn't win as well. Though NATAS confirmed that Cohn has earned one Emmy, she apparently has a total of four in her possession. In an Instagram post dated November 2023, she called them her "Fab 4." She referred the Athletic to an ESPN spokesperson for comment.

  


NATAS eventually began to suspect that someone at ESPN was gaming the system, and in 2022, the Emmy group asked the network to verify some of the names it had submitted for awards. At that point, ESPN, which conducted an investigation into the matter as well, fessed up.

For its report, the Athletic attempted to ascertain why ESPN went to so much trouble. While some at the network suggested the scheme was designed to feed the egos of hosts or executives, others told the outlet that the rule was "stupid," ostensibly because it allowed those in the industry to recognize an exceptional show without giving credit to those who appeared on it.

Since NATAS threw the flag at ESPN, 37 statuettes have been returned, but it is unclear whether they are all from ESPN. There is no indication that other networks borrowed a page from ESPN's playbook and conducted a similar scheme.

ESPN has issued a statement about the scandal:

Some members of our team were clearly wrong in submitting certain names that may go back to 1997 in Emmy categories where they were not eligible for recognition or statuettes. This was a misguided attempt to recognize on-air individuals who were important members of our production team. Once current leadership was made aware, we apologized to NATAS for violating guidelines and worked closely with them to completely overhaul our submission process to safeguard against anything like this happening again.

We brought in outside counsel to conduct a full and thorough investigation and individuals found to be responsible were disciplined by ESPN.

Adam Sharp of NATAS gave one to the Athletic as well:

NATAS identified a number of fictitious credits submitted by ESPN to multiple Sports Emmys competitions. When brought to the attention of ESPN senior management, the network took steps to take responsibility for the actions of its personnel, to investigate thoroughly, and to course correct. These steps have included the return by ESPN of statuettes issued to fictitious individuals and commitments to implement further internal accountability and procedural changes at the network.

At least three current or former ESPN employees, all in senior production positions, are no longer eligible to win an Emmy going forward. The identity of the individual who authorized the scheme in the first place remains unknown.

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Outrage mob turns on Jimmy Kimmel after he usurps Quinta Brunson's Emmy Award acceptance



Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel is being accused of using his "white privilege" to upstage Quinta Brunson at the Emmy Awards ceremony.

What happened?

While Brunson, creator and lead actress of ABC's hit show "Abbott Elementary," was accepting her award for best Writing for a Comedy Series, Kimmel acted out a skit in which Brunson was forced to step over his body.

When it was time to present the award, Will Arnett dragged Kimmel's body onto the stage and joked about Kimmel having drunk too many "skinny margaritas." But Kimmel never got up, and Brunson was forced to give her acceptance speech while standing over his body.

To her credit, Brunson remained professional throughout, gave a touching speech, and then left the stage.

  Writing for a Comedy Series: 74th Emmy Awards www.youtube.com 

The antics, however, did not go over well.

In fact, fans, especially black fans, saw the incident as yet another instance of a white man stealing the spotlight from the accomplishments of black women.

  • "If #QuintaBrunson stepping over #JimmyKimmel who literally laid in her spotlight on the day she won an Emmy isn’t a metaphor for what it means to be a [women of color] in a white mans world I don’t know what is," Boston University professor Heba Gowayed said.
  • "Jimmy Kimmel should have left the stage during Quinta’s speech. Highly disrespectful," HuffPost editor Philip Lewis said.
  • "Jimmy Kimmel owes Quinta an apology but the messed up part is every image of her accepting her award has his a** in it.White men really are insufferable," Candice Marie Benbow said.
  • "To me, what Jimmy Kimmel did is worst than Will Smith," one person said.
  • "Where’s Will Smith when you need him?" another person reacted.
  • "Just a reminder of how Jimmy Kimmel doesn’t seem to be able to let Black folks shine in really important moments," April Reign said.
  • "I don’t know of a better example of invasive white male privilege than Jimmy Kimmel laying in the middle of Quinta Brunson’s #Emmys2022 speech. He had no business/right to take up space in the way that he did," another person said.
  • "Caucasity is centering your unfunny self and joke as someone wins their first Emmy Award. Jimmy Kimmel ol’ by golly whillickers face a** owes Quinta an apology. Foolishness," Luvvie Ajayi said.
  • "I really don't know how to define white, male privilege more clearly than Jimmy Kimmel not getting out of the way of Quinta Brunson's moment," another person said.

What did Brunson say later?

After the awards ceremony, Brunson was asked about Kimmel's controversial skit. She responded with total grace.

"I know Jimmy Kimmel, and I don’t know, I felt like the bit didn’t bother me that much. I don’t know what the internet thinks," she said. "I know him. Jimmy gave me my first big late-night spot and was one of the first people to see ‘Abbott.' He Instagram messaged me that he saw this comedy and thought it was one of the greatest comedies of all time and he was so excited it was going to be on ABC."

"So in that moment I think I was just really happy that it was Jimmy up there. I kind of consider him one of the comedy godfathers," she continued.

"Tomorrow maybe I’ll be mad at him. I’m going to be on his show on Wednesday, so I might punch him in the face," she quipped. "I don’t know. We'll see what happens."

 
\u201cQuinta Brunson addressed Jimmy Kimmel laying on stage during her #Emmys acceptance speech: "I felt like the bit didn\u2019t bother me that much...Tomorrow maybe I\u2019ll be mad at him. I\u2019m going to be on his show on Wednesday, so I might punch him in the face." https://t.co/Bm8Bfhyi0k\u201d
— Variety (@Variety) 1663039869 
 

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Biological male up for Emmy award for Best Lead Actress in a drama series: 'I feel so seen'



For the first time ever, a transgender actor is set to be considered for an Emmy award for a lead acting role in a prime-time series.

Mj Rodriguez, who was born a biological male but now identifies as a female following a gender transition, was nominated this week for Best Lead Actress in a Drama.

Should Rodriguez win the award when the winners are announced in September, it would mark the first time that a transgender actor has won an acting Emmy.

Rodriguez was nominated for a performance as "house mother" Bianca Rodriguez in the FX series "Pose," a dramatization of New York City's underground drag ballroom culture in the 1980s and 1990s amid the rise of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The show, which has been celebrated for casting transgender actors to play transgender characters, scooped up 11 Emmy nominations over its first two seasons and this year is up for Best Drama Series.

In an interview with the Associated Press following the nomination, Rodriguez said, "I felt so seen."

"I felt represented and I felt seen," added the actor. "And ... more accepted than I have felt in a long time. I felt like my colleagues now see me, my acting colleagues see me, and the people who are surrounded by the arts see me, and how much I want to give the world the love to my craft and my art."

Rodriguez expressed similar sentiments during an interview with ExtraTV, saying, "I feel so seen ... I cried something hard."

  'Pose' Star MJ Rodriguez on Her History-Making Emmy Nomination: 'I Cried Something Hard' www.youtube.com 

News of Rodriguez's nomination immediately earned praise from LGBT groups, including the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).

"Mj Rodriguez's Emmy nomination for outstanding lead actress in a drama series is a breakthrough for transgender women in Hollywood, and a long-overdue recognition for her groundbreaking performance over the past three seasons of Pose," said president and CEO of GLAAD Sarah Kate Ellis in a statement.

"Additionally, the show's nomination for outstanding drama series, as well as Billy Porter's third nomination for outstanding lead actor in a drama series, mark a historic show that undoubtedly raised the bar for trans representation on television and changed the way viewers around the world understand the trans community," Ellis continued.

Stacey Abrams receives Emmy nomination for playing herself in 1-minute voiceover spot on 'Black-ish'



Receiving an Emmy Award nomination has apparently never been easier. One needs only to be a darling of the liberal media who does something on television that can feasibly be deemed a "performance."

Case in point: Former Democratic candidate for Georgia governor, Stacey Abrams, who on Tuesday was nominated for "Outstanding Character Voiceover Performance" ahead of the 2021 awards show.

What was the "outstanding performance" that garnered her consideration?

She appeared for all of one minute and seven seconds in an animated election special of the ABC sitcom, "Black-ish," playing herself while magnifying the importance of mail-in and early voting.

In the episode, which aired in October, one month before the 2020 presidential election, Abrams helps "Dre," played by Anthony Anderson, get the wheels rolling at the start of his congressional run.

  Dre Gets Campaign Help from Stacey Abrams and Desus & Mero - black-ish youtu.be 

Abrams, who failed in her bid for governor in 2018, has since taken up efforts to expand voting through third-party registration and is credited by many on the left for flipping Georgia blue during the 2020 election.

One of her groups, the New Georgia Project, came under investigation last year for "repeatedly and aggressively" seeking to register "ineligible, out-of-state, or deceased voters" before the state's Jan. 5 Senate runoffs.

Not surprisingly, news of Abrams' nomination was celebrated by those in progressive media circles.

In a Fast Company report on her nomination, Christopher Zara wrote, "When she's not saving democracy, writing a best-selling novel, or running her fintech startup, Stacey Abrams is apparently very busy doing cartoon voiceovers, and now her efforts have garnered her a nomination for television's highest honor."

Film director Liz Garbus wrote, "Give her ALL the things!"

Abrams thanked "Black-ish" in a tweet for "lifting up the rights of voters at such a critical time" and for "letting [her] appear such a fantastic show."

 

Thank you for lifting up the rights of voters at such a critical time (and letting me appear such a fantastic show… https://t.co/GpfLOza7Ma

— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) 1626194981.0 
 

Abrams is set to face off against Jessica Walter ("Archer"), Maya Rudolph ("Big Mouth"), Julie Andrews ("Bridgerton"), Tituss Burgess ("Central Park"), Stanley Tucci ("Central Park"), and Seth MacFarlane ("Family Guy") for the award.

Though this is Abrams' first Emmy Award nomination, it's not the first time that she has been considered for an entertainment award.

Earlier this year, a documentary co-produced by Abrams, "All In: The Fight for Democracy," was shortlisted for an Academy Award in the documentary feature category.

The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony will be held Sept. 19 in downtown Los Angeles.

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