Emmy Awards

Wayne Brady is incredibly honored to be nominated for a Daytime Emmy alongside Alex Trebek ... but losing to him? Well, that'd be one helluva honor too.

We got the "Let's Make a Deal" host in Times Square, and wanted to get his 2 cents on being nominated alongside the late legendary "Jeopardy!" host for outstanding game show host.

Wayne, always the total gentleman, couldn't help singing Alex's praises.

Wayne said the fact Alex got nominated posthumously speaks volumes ... calling him the consummate professional and the kind of host who was smooth and always in control.

There are some other notable nominees ... like Steve Harvey for "Family Feud," Alfonso Ribeiro for "Catch 21" and Pat Sajak for "Wheel of Fortune." Wayne says there'd be no shame losing to any of 'em, but losing to Alex? Well, he did set the bar after all.

Alex was nominated almost 7 months after he passed away following his courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Despite announcing the diagnosis in March 2019 ... Alex continued hosting into his 37th season.

Regina King pulled a real-life hero move by wearing a Breonna Taylor shirt while accepting her Emmy for playing a superhero ... so says Breonna's family attorney, Ben Crump.

The civil rights lawyer was at LAX Monday, sporting a Breonna mask himself, when he lauded the "Watchmen" star and all the other celebs who used their very public platforms at the 2020 Emmys to remind everyone ... justice still hasn't been served.

Crump tells us what Regina and others did keeps Black victims' stories from being swept under the rug. He also said the gesture -- also made by Uzo Aduba during her acceptance -- reminds him of something the iconic Harry Belafonte once said about how and when to use your influence.

Ben added, the continued public support for justice for Breonna keeps him hopeful the cops who killed her will soon be charged.

As we've reported ... no criminal charges have been brought in the case of Breonna's death, but the City of Louisville did reach a settlement last week with her estate. Louisville will pay out a historic amount of money, and also pledged major police reforms.

Turns out Jennifer Aniston is a boss with a fire extinguisher, lucky for Jimmy Kimmel ... as their dumpster fire bit at the Emmys, inadvertently, turned into a recreation of 2020.

The fire gag went down early in Sunday's live broadcast of the Emmys from Staples Center ... Jennifer was the night's first awards presenter. The fiery joke showed them first cleaning any potential coronavirus off the envelope ... by spraying it with Lysol and lighting it on fire, naturally.

Thing is ... the envelope wouldn't stop burning!!! Jimmy and Jen looked shocked, and she had to blast the extinguisher 5 times before the fire finally went out.

It all played like a metaphor for the massive wildfires currently burning in California and Oregon. Hell, you could even extend that metaphor to all of 2020 -- COVID-19, racism, social injustice, politics, hurricanes, etc ...

Ya get the point ... someone please extinguish this year.

Even though it was the Emmys, television wasn't the most important thing on the minds of some of the winners Sunday night ... and they made that very clear.

Regina King -- who won for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Television Movie for her starring role as Angela Abar in HBO’s "Watchmen" -- used her victory speech time to remind everyone to say the name, Breonna Taylor.

Regina reminded everyone after her win ... the police officers who killed Breonna have still not been held accountable, and she felt the call to honor her. She says Taylor represents centuries of violence against Black people.

Uzo Aduba -- who won for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series for playing Shirley Chisholm on "Mrs. America" -- also honored Breonna by wearing a shirt bearing her name.

Finally, there was "Succession," which beat out some serious competition to win Best Drama Series.

The HBO show's British creator, Jesse Armstrong, decided to deliver a series of un-thank-yous since he couldn't be with the rest of the cast and crew to celebrate ... and sounded off on President Trump and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Armstong said ... "Un-thank you to the virus for keeping us all apart this year. Un-thank you to Trump for his crummy and uncoordinated response, un-thank you to Boris Johnson and his government for doing the same in my country."

Eddie Murphy made it clear Saturday night ... some things are just worth waiting for.

Eddie scored his first Emmy ever -- yep, hard to believe, but true. This time around he was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his appearance on "Saturday Night Live."

t's pretty remarkable ... his 'SNL' appearance was the first time in 35 years since he hosted. You'll recall, he reprieved some of his classic characters, including Buckwheat, Mister Robinson and Gumby.

Eddie was super grateful, thanking the Academy for the honor and giving a special shout-out to Lorne Michaels. He was gracious, thanking the cast, writers and crew.

Here's the good news ... Eddie said he's going to get back on stage to do more comedy. He says he planned to do it before the pandemic, and once he gets the all-clear he's going before live audiences.

Turns out it was a special occasion ... Saturday marked 36 years to the day Eddie appeared on 'SNL.'

"When They See Us" star Jharrel Jerome was the man of the hour when he hauled in a huge Emmy win, but he left zero doubt the night's spotlight belonged to the man he portrayed.

Jharrel proudly brought CP5 exoneree Korey Wise with him Sunday night to Netflix's after-party at L.A.'s Milk Studios. It was a helluva win for Jharrel, who brought home Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series.

Jharrel, of course, played Korey ... one of the 5 teens wrongfully convicted for the 1989 rape and beating of a female jogger. Korey was the oldest of the accused at 16. He served 12 years behind bars before he and the others were exonerated in 2002.

During his acceptance speech, 21-year-old Jharrel paid tribute to the "exonerated five" ... but that was only the beginning.

Jeff Bezos has the fortune and Farrah Abraham has ... a plan for how to spend that fortune -- and she shot her shot face-to-face with him in the middle of the Emmy Awards.

The Amazon honcho -- whose shows "Fleabag" and 'Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' had big nights -- topped off his award-winning by stopping and posing with the ex-'Teen Mom' star. This was definitely the highlight of the Emmys ... for one of these two.

Farrah captioned the pic with a plea to land a role in an Amazon project of Jeff's choice. She also said, "Let's do a deal for my bio pic." Stranger things have happened. Right?

Hours earlier, Jeff was hanging with the other woman in his life -- GF Lauren Sanchez -- at her beachfront home in Santa Monica.

They were totally twinning in white tops and blue jeans as they enjoyed the view and their morning coffee.

Unclear if she was with Jeff at the Emmys. We're guessing Farrah's moment with the world's richest man wouldn't have happened on Lauren's watch!

BTW, Jeff had another fun moment with 'Mrs. Maisel' star Alex Borstein -- who won the Best Supporting Actress in a comedy series. Alex posted her pre-Emmys text exchange with Bezos.

Bezos was down to clown around with Alex about exchanging some dog food she purchased through Amazon.

Prime humor.

Originally Published -- 8:54 AM PT 

Felicity Huffman got caught in the Emmys' crosshairs with a not-so-subtle shot at the former winner and TV darling that invoked her prison sentence.

Emmys commentator Thomas Lennon made the jab after RuPaul took home the prize for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program. He noted the show producers had asked him to make a special shout-out to any ex-Emmy-winning actresses who might be watching from prison.

He didn't say Felicity's name, but it was obvious he was talking about her ... as he followed up with, "Hopefully those two weeks are going to fly right by."

Lennon added, "Keep your chin up" as he carried a big smirk on his face. Of course, Felicity won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy for her role in "Desperate Housewives" back in 2005. She's been nominated for Emmys several other times as well.

As we reported ... Felicity was sentenced to 14 days behind bars -- among other penalties -- for her role in the college bribery scandal, to which she pled guilty.

She seems to have gotten a jump on her community service, which might be an attempt to show good faith to the judge ... who has the power to send her to the facility she wants -- a cozy-ish place up in the Bay Area that allows tanning and whatnot.

Felicity starred in a show that's up for quite a few Emmys Sunday -- Netflix's "When They See Us" -- but she wasn't nominated for her role as Linda Fairstein.

The 2019 Emmys are in full swing -- and there is quite a variety of famous faces to soak in from behind the scenes ... a testament to where entertainment's headed, perhaps?

There was a very mixed bag of stars on hand Sunday at the Microsoft Theater in L.A. to smile for the camera, congratulate one another and if they were lucky enough ... give an acceptance speech. Just a handful of the celebs who were there Kim K and Kendall Jenner, Anthony Anderson and Regina King, Alfie Allen, Kerry Washington, Taraji Henson, Bill Hader, Jane Lynch, Michelle Williams, Amy Adams, Olivia Colman, Don Cheadle, Patricia Arquette, and others.

It's interesting ... it feels like TV has sorta overtaken the star power and glam of movies, with a bunch of A-list actors having migrated over lately. Watching the Emmys is almost like watching the Oscars these days -- and, apparently, it carries just as much weight.

That much is clear by how happy some of these fine people look to be walking away with a statuette. As we've said before ... the time a changin'.

Colin Kaepernick got a W on Sunday -- and he's got the Emmy to prove it!!

The Nike "Dream Crazy" commercial featuring the NFL quarterback had been nominated for a 2019 Creative Arts Emmy for Best Commercial ... facing stiff competition from ads for Netflix and Apple.

But, Colin's spot emerged victorious ... and we're told Colin and The Swoosh are PUMPED. Our sources tell us Kap is especially proud because he was involved in the creative process.

As we previously reported,  the ad was produced by the Wieden+Kennedy agency -- a Portland-based company located near Nike's headquarters. They famously produced the Terry Crews Old Spice commercials and Bud Lite's "Dilly Dilly."

The spot dropped back in September and featured Kap telling inspirational messages about overcoming the odds ... while using other huge athletes to make his point.

"Don't picture yourself wearing [Odell Beckham's] jersey. Picture OBJ wearing yours," Kap said.

He also referenced Shaquem Griffin, LeBron James and Serena Williams ...

"And, if you’re a girl from Compton, don’t just become a tennis player. Become the greatest athlete ever. Yeah, that’s more like it."

Nike caught some flack for the ad because people took issue with Colin's line, "Believe in something even if it means sacrificing everything."

Critics felt Colin didn't really "sacrifice everything" since he still has millions in the bank -- while military members who died in action really did sacrifice everything fighting for the country.

Gypsy Rose is reacting to Joey King's Emmy nomination for her portrayal in "The Act" ... and it doesn't exactly scream let's be BFFs.

Fancy Macelli, a Gypsy Rose family spokesperson, tells TMZ ... Gypsy sincerely congratulates Joey for nailing the role and mastering her look, voice and mannerisms. That being said ... Gypsy has ZERO interest in meeting Joey following the Emmy nom because Gypsy is adamant the story line in Hulu's limited series is inaccurate ... and by meeting with her, it would validate the series' narrative.

What's more ... Gypsy, who was forced to pretend to be disabled for years and wanted to escape her mother's medical abuse, wants to put this ugly episode behind her. Gypsy says she has nothing to gain by meeting with Joey.

As for some of the inaccuracies in "The Act" ... Gypsy claims the repeated sex scenes in the series is not a true depiction of her sex life and it was dramatized to make her seem like a nymphomaniac.

Gypsy also takes issue with how often the series shows Gypsy's mom, Dee Dee, tying her up in bed and holding her hostage. She says it only happened once ... after she tried to escape.

As you might know by now ... Gypsy's then-BF, Nick Godejohn, admitted to murdering Dee Dee in 2015 to help Gypsy escape from Dee Dee's claws. He's currently serving a life sentence while Gypsy is serving a 10-year sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

After Joey found out about her Emmy nom, she bawled like a baby and called the nomination an honor. She later told an outlet there's so many things she'd like to tell Gypsy ... adding she hopes Gypsy knows she respects her story, "and that all I wanted to do was to right by her. And I hope she can see and understand that."

Alex Trebek is in the battle of his life, but he clearly hasn't lost his sense of humor, because he stole the show Sunday night at the Daytime Emmys.

Alex won Best Game Show Host, this in the wake of his stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis. When the crowd stopped roaring, he kind of went in on them, grousing he's not a big fan of sympathy votes.

But then ... the best game show host in the biz did an about-face, noting just a year before he was in another life-or-death health battle and he was overlooked when the Emmy folks doled out the hardware.

In the end, Alex pulled a Sally Field and said he appreciated the gesture.

We love this dude.

Katt Williams' handlers wanted him to get some shine at the Emmys so badly, they kept him in the dark about a scheduled court date -- a decision that blew up in Katt's face with his weekend arrest.

Sources close to the comedian tell TMZ ... Williams' management team didn't tell him he was due in an Atlanta courtroom at the same time he was flying to L.A. last month to attend the Emmys. Yes, Katt was nominated for his role on the hit show "Atlanta," and he ended up winning.

However, we're told Katt's making it clear he would've picked going to court over the award show if anyone on his team had bothered to let him know what was at stake. When Katt no-showed for court, the judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

Our sources say Katt never even knew about the warrant until he got busted in Oregon for allegedly assaulting his driver. He remains in a Portland jail, and no decision's been made yet on extradition.

Bottom line -- Katt feels like he's paying the price for his team choosing lady Emmy over Lady Justice.

Katt Williams had some explaining to do about Tiffany Haddish and a gun that was supposedly pulled on him and, while he finally cleared the air ... it wasn't without difficulty.

We got the comedian Monday night strolling the streets of L.A. after the Emmys -- with his own in hand -- and asked him to elaborate on Atlanta radio host Wanda Smith's husband allegedly pointing a gun at his face and chasing him to a supermarket across the street.

Katt plays more than coy here ... he's just downright speaking in riddles with us. But, he does make one thing clear -- the sitch would've been far more dire if a gun was involved.

Our camera guy also asks about the apparent hatchet burying that happened when he saw Tiffany at the award show. She posted photos of him kneeling before her in what looked like pure contrition.

We got Tiffany at LAX Tuesday morning who echoed Katt's stance here ... no beef to see here. In fact, she's even open to working with the comedian in the future.

Katt does apologize though, saying he's sorry for bringing her up in a disparaging way ... and giving a shout-out to another comedian who apparently set him straight.

Donald Glover's creepy mansion dwelling, Michael Jackson-esque, character from his hit show, "Atlanta," made a surprise appearance at the 2018 Emmys -- except Donald wasn't behind the makeup.

DG and the rest of the "Atlanta" stars were in attendance Monday night, but so was Teddy Perkins ... who nearly killed Lakeith Stanfield's character in season 2. On the show, Donald played the role of Teddy, but at the Emmys ... this group shot sparked a mystery -- WHO'S WEARING THE MAKEUP???

Everyone assumed it was Donald until the photo made it clear that wasn't the case. Tuesday morning, comedian Jay Pharoah started taking credit for the appearance -- which would make sense, since his 'SNL' buddies wrote and hosted the Emmys.

If you haven't seen the show yet, here's an example of just how damn freaky Teddy Perkins really was during his brief stint in "Atlanta." Spoiler alert ... RIP, Teddy.

"Atlanta" had a pretty solid night with 16 nominations and 3 wins ... including Katt Williams' for his role on the series.