It may not be as controversial as what happened at the Academy Awards, but the controversial moment of the night before Monday night’s Primetime Emmy Awards came courtesy of Jimmy Kimmel. During the performance, Quinta Brunson won her first Emmy for her writing on the hit comedy series Abbott Elementary. The award was presented to her by Kimmel and actor Will Arnett, and it was a joke the two worked out that ultimately influenced Brunson’s acceptance speech.
Instead of approaching the microphone normally, Arnett was seen dragging a lifeless Kimmel out of the backstage area. Arnett joked that the Jimmy Kimmel Live host “couldn’t be here tonight” after getting “into the skinny margaritas”. The joke continued and Arnett revealed Brunson as the winner without Kimmel’s help, and the announcement resulted in a huge round of applause from everyone in the room.
After Brunson got her Emmy, she joked that Kimmel could wake up. Kimmel then gave a thumbs up before feigning unconsciousness again, to make it clear he wasn’t going anywhere. Brunson clumsily went on and absorbed her acceptance speech, and only when she left was he removed from the stage. Many viewers watching at home were quick to criticize Kimmel’s behavior on social media, arguing that Kimmel’s dedication to the prank overshadowed Brunson’s special moment.
“Quinta Brunson deserved better than giving her acceptance over Jimmy Kimmel’s ‘dead’ body,” said one person.
“The choice to have Quinta Brunson step over Jimmy Kimmel to get to the mic and then play her early was horrendous,” another viewer tweeted.
Following on from many others, another tweet stated: “I know of no better example of invasive white male privilege than Jimmy Kimmel who was in the middle of Quinta Brunson’s #Emmys2022 speech. He had no business/right to take up space in the way that he did.”
Quinta Brunson will likely discuss the situation on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
After her win, Brunson was asked by Variety how she felt about the awkward situation that was already causing a stir online. For her part, Brunson said it didn’t bother her that much, though she may be even angrier about it by the time she appears on Kimmel’s show this week.
“I know Jimmy Kimmel, and I don’t know, I just felt like it didn’t bother me that much. I don’t know what the internet thinks,” Brunson said, attributing to Kimmel that she was an early follower of hers. “Jimmy gave me my first big night spot and was one of the first to see it abbot… so I guess at the time I was just really happy that Jimmy was up there. I kind of consider him one of the comic godfathers.”
She added: “I don’t know, tomorrow I might be mad at him. I’m going to his show on Wednesday, so maybe I’ll punch him in the face.”
If that happened, at least it wasn’t at the Emmys or the event would earn an Oscar.