Jimmy Kimmel faces backlash over 'disrespectful' Emmys bit during Quinta Brunson's speech


And the award for most controversial Emmys joke goes to...
Jimmy Kimmel is facing backlash for a bit during Monday's Emmy Awards that didn't go over well with fans of Abbott Elementary. The show's creator, Quinta Brunson, won for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. But Will Arnett presented the award with a bit that involved dragging Kimmel on stage and pretending he had passed out from drinking too much. "This is like the thirteenth time in a row that he's lost, and he just got into the skinny margaritas back there," Arnett joked.
It was a fairly typical awards show bit, except that when Brunson's name was read and she came up on stage, Kimmel remained there for her entire speech. "Jimmy, wake up, I won!" Brunson said, but Kimmel committed to the bit and never got up.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The joke quickly drew backlash online, with some at home arguing it was in poor taste because it overshadowed Brunson's big moment. "Jimmy Kimmel should have left the stage during Quinta's speech," HuffPost's Philip Lewis tweeted. "Highly disrespectful."
But Brunson herself didn't seem to mind, telling reporters backstage the bit "didn't bother me that much" and praising Kimmel for supporting her show — though she noted, "I don't know what the Internet thinks."
"Tomorrow, maybe I'll be mad at him," she continued, joking, "I'm going to be on his show on Wednesday, so I might punch him in the face. I don't know. We'll see what happens."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Alchemised: how Harry Potter fanfic went mainstream
In The Spotlight Traditional publishers are signing up fan fiction authors to rewrite their ‘explosively popular’ romances for the mass market
-
Crossword: October 6, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
-
Codeword: October 6, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91
Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle