Seth Rogen called out the Emmys as unsafe, and producers are 'fuming'

The producers of this year's Emmys aren't happy with Seth Rogen.

In a viral moment from Sunday's awards show, which was held in a tent with hundreds of people in attendance, Rogen playfully expressed concern that the setup was unsafe. Ian Stewart and Reginald Hudlin, the telcast's producers, are "fuming" over his remarks, Variety writes.

Stewart told Variety that Rogen surprised producers by going off script, and he strongly pushed back against the notion that COVID-19 safety guidelines weren't adhered to.

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"We have worked for months and months to make that a safe space," Stewart said. "We've worked with all the health authorities. We were signed off by L.A. County, we came up with a plan with them. Those tables were distanced. Everyone was vaccinated. Everyone was negative tested in that audience. And also he had rehearsed. So he knew exactly what it was. So, I just felt it was an unfortunate misdirect from him."

Stewart also called Rogen's comments "deeply frustrating," as they "made three months of very hard work and many, many discussions to get it absolutely right feel a little bit wasted, really."

Before presenting the first award of the Emmys, Rogen said there were "way too many of us in this little room," suggesting the show's organizers "lied to us" by claiming the event would be held outdoors and declared he "would not have come" if he was aware of this situation. "We're in a hermetically sealed tent right now," he joked.

This appeared to leave producers scrambling to rebut Rogen's comments during the show itself, as both DJ Reggie Watts and host Cedric the Entertainer pointedly highlighted the safety protocols that were being followed not long after.

"It actually feels amazing in here," Cedric said in a monologue. "Unlike what Seth was talking about, it feels good. We're all vaxxed. We had to get vaxxed to come here."