Emmy Awards

The Emmys have wrapped ... everyone saw what went down on the show's broadcast, but check out all the happenings from behind the scenes!

The Microsoft Theater held the event's 69th year where "Big Little Lies" and "The Handmaid's Tale" came up big. Nicole Kidman took home an award for best actress for her work on 'BLL' and 'THT' took home the hardware for outstanding drama.

Sean Spicer seems to have fully turned on Donald Trump ... 'cause he just made a cameo at the Emmys to dog his former boss alongside Stephen Colbert.

Colbert, who's hosting this year, was going in on the Prez at the start of the show Sunday when he eventually cracked a joke about the size of the audience, saying it was impossible to know how big it was without some help. That's when he intro'd Spicer, who came onstage with his signature podium.

Spicer came out suited and booted and did a callback to one of his first press conferences under Trump, saying ... "This will be the largest audience to witness an Emmys, period! Both in person and around the world." Colbert quipped ... "Wow, that really soothes my ego."

The audience roared at the surprise visit from the former White House Press Secretary, who resigned earlier this year.

Dave Chappelle's waited a long time for his first Emmy, so you better believe he's showing it off ... EVERYwhere!

We got the comedian walking around WeHo Tuesday brandishing his trophy, and he had a very logical reason for waving it around in public.

Dave's clearly proud of winning the Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his post-election monologue on 'SNL' -- but also admits the whole awards thing's kinda silly. Remember, he had a HUGE show of his own back in the day, and never won.

Still, Chappelle's grateful, and tells us how he's gonna keep the Emmy close. Maybe too close.

Hell yeah, Tamar Braxon's going onstage and celebrating if "The Real" ends up winning a Daytime Emmy Sunday night ... even though the show fired her last year.

Tamar -- on an upcoming appearance on "Home & Family" -- was undaunted by her pink slip, insisting she's not only going to the ceremony ... if the show wins, she'll go onstage to get what's hers.

The singer was a co-host from 2013 to 2016 before she was given the boot.

In case you're wondering ... "The Real" has stiff competition for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Hosts ... with "Live with Kelly" and "The View" among the nominees.

Johnnie Cochran's protege, Carl Douglas, has sympathy for his former O.J. Simpson trial opponent, Marcia Clark ... but only up to a point.

Carl came on "TMZ Live" to talk about 'The People v. O.J. Simpson' cleaning up at the Emmys. Marcia was there with Sarah Paulson, who played her and ended up winning a trophy. Sarah made a special shout-out/apology to Marcia during her acceptance speech.

You gotta hear Carl's take on Marcia getting hammered by the public in the wake of the trial.

Fair to say, he enjoyed Marcia's moment in the spotlight more than he did Jimmy Kimmel's crack about Cochran being in hell.

Another night, another shot of Lindsey Vonn in a smokin' hot dress in West Hollywood ... this time, hitting the Emmy party scene with Kate Beckinsale.

Vonn attended the Emmys earlier in the night in a burgundy dress -- but after a quick wardrobe change, was back on the scene at The Nice Guy.

Lindsey's worked damn hard for that physique -- besides being a world class skier, she's been showing off her squat sessions on Instagram.

You done messed up, Tiger Woods.

Producers Ashley Baumann-Sylvester and Barton Kimball were thrilled to have won an Emmy for "The Voice" ... maybe Ashley more so than Barton.

We got them leaving The Governor's Ball Sunday where they riffed on the suggestion that Miley Cyrus and Alicia Keys would make good Supreme Court justices. Check out the clip -- Ashley loses sight of the question ... all in good fun.

We even asked about Jimmy Kimmel faking out the Emmy crowd with a Bill Cosby introduction ... they had some choice words for that too.

Jill Soloway has lots of rules to live by ... one of which she shares with Jeffrey Tambor.

The "Transparent" creator doubled down when we caught up with her at the Amazon Emmys After-Party in WeHo. Jill's adamant transgender people -- NOT white cisgender males -- need to play themselves in Hollywood.

Jill's also got a strong take on Donald Trump.

Emily Ratajkowski ain't handin' out any 5 star Yelp ratings for Jimmy Kimmel's mom's peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

We got Em Rata leaving Amazon's Emmys After-Party at Sunset Tower and asked her if she scored one of 7,000 sandwiches the Emmy host's mom supposedly made for the crowd.

Check it out ... Emily wasn't a fan, but something tells us she's very particular about things.

Jimmy Kimmel's Emmys joke about Johnnie Cochran has enraged a famous lawyer Johnny mentored.

Carl Douglas lashed out at Kimmel, who talked smack on O.J.'s real lawyer after Courtney B. Vance won Best Actor in a Limited Series. Kimmel said, "I have to believe Johnnie Cochran is smiling up at us tonight."

The idea that Cochran went to hell for repping O.J. was too much for Douglas to bear, saying, "That was a terribly offensive joke that Jimmy Kimmel made about my mentor and hero Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr."

"Modern Family" star Ty Burrell ain't messin' around when it comes to his beloved football team ... saying if it comes down to the Rams gettin' a W ... or winning an Emmy, he's blue and gold all day.

Whitney Houston's estate and the Whitney fan who already bid $10,000 for her 1986 Emmy are both outta luck -- a federal judge has shut down an auction for the trophy.

Heritage Auctions had put the statuette up for grabs, but TMZ broke the story ... the Television Academy opposed the auction, citing its rule that all Emmys must be returned to them if the winner or winner's heirs no longer want it.

Heritage was hawking the Emmy on behalf of Whitney's estate, but the Academy sought and was granted a temporary restraining order to prevent the live auction from going down Friday.

The online auction had already begun, and as we told you ... someone put up a $10k bid. Sorry, Charlie.

Whitney Houston's Emmy award will NOT be auctioned off without a fight ... the Television Academy just filed a lawsuit accusing Heritage Auctions of theft.

TMZ broke the story ... the Academy is trying to block Heritage from putting the statuette on the block -- on behalf of Whitney's family -- claiming it contractually MUST be returned to the Academy.

In the docs -- filed in L.A. and obtained by TMZ -- the Academy included the sticker it says has been affixed to the bottom of EVERY Emmy handed out between 1978 to 1994. Whitney won hers in 1986.

The sticker makes it clear the statuette is the Academy's property and the winner's heirs are "obligated to return" it ... as opposed to selling it or throwing it away.

Whitney Houston's only Emmy award is about to go up for auction IF Emmy honchos fail in their last ditch effort to block the sale ... TMZ has learned.

The Television Academy says it's going into court Wednesday morning to request a restraining order against Heritage Auctions ... which plans to put Whitney's 1986 Emmy statuette up for grabs on Friday.

Heritage is hawking the award on behalf of Whitney's estate -- but the Television Academy has strict rules about its awards. According to the Academy, all winners sign an agreement that their heirs or successors must "return the statuette to the Academy, and we hold it in storage in memory of the recipient.”

A rep for Heritage tells TMZ ... they've asked the Academy multiple times to produce Whitney's signature on that agreement, but no dice to this point. Heritage says it's moving forward unless a judge drops the hammer.

They expect the award to sell for upwards of $10,000. By the way, Whitney won the Emmy for her performance on the Grammys. Weird, right?

Emmy award winning TV director Alex Graves has finally hashed out a divorce settlement with his wife of 19 years ... and the split was pretty much even-steven.

Wife Sarah got half of the income from all his shows ... a pretty penny since Alex's resume boasts 2 Emmy wins for "The West Wing" and episodes of "Game of Thrones." His credits also include stints behind the lens on "The Practice," "Fringe," "Ally McBeal," and "Shameless."

That's not all ... Alex has to pay Sarah $8,625 per month in spousal support, plus a bonus if he earns more than $425k a year.

The couple will have joint custody of their two teenage children. Alex must cough up $5,657 a month in child support.

The estate of 'Simpsons' co-creator Sam Simon wants to unload 2 handfuls worth of his Emmys, but the people at the Emmys ain't havin' it ... TMZ has learned.

Simon passed away last year and his foundation listed 10 Emmys -- which he won for "The Simpsons" and "The Tracey Ullman Show" -- through the Abell Auction Company.

They could go for $2,500 - $6,000 each ... however, the Academy of Television says it's the rightful owner of those awards. A rep for the Academy tells us a winner's heirs or successors must "return the statuette to the Academy, and we hold it in storage in memory of the recipient.” Those are the rules.

The Academy broke that news to Simon's estate, and as of Monday morning ... the Emmys have been pulled off the block.

The auction's still going down February 21 and will include pieces from Sam's art collection, like Picasso lithographs and a mini "Thinker" -- but your shot at a 'Simpsons' Emmy is officially dead.