Jimmy Kimmel's Disrespectful Emmys Stunt Has Quinta Brunson Fans Seeing Red
Welp! Another awards show, another occasion where an attendee didn't quite read the room or think through precisely what they were doing. In the case of last night's Emmy award show, that "honor" went to primetime talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel, who died on his comedic hill during a moment that many viewers didn't find funny at all.
The unevenly landed gag was literally laid out during the nomination for Best Writing in a Comedy Series when its presenter, Kimmel, was dragged and laid out on stage by "Arrested Development" and former LEGO Batman, Will Arnett. Kimmel's partner in the bit explained to the crowd that this was the talk show host's "13th time in a row that he's lost and he just got into the skinny margaritas back there."
While it earned a few laughs, Kimmel committed to the joke even after first-time winner Quinta Brunson walked up to accept her award for "Abbot Elementary." After stepping over him, Brunson explained, "Jimmy wake up, I won," she said before getting a thumbs up from Kimmel and staying there throughout her winner's speech. While Brunson seemingly shrugged it off, her fans and those watching at home quickly called out Kimmel for stealing the spotlight at a crucial moment.
Fans deem Kimmel's gag during Brunson's moment 'atrocious'
Twitter quickly spoke out regarding what many deemed a poor decision from both Jimmy Kimmel and the higher-ups for letting it go ahead. Garin Pirnia said, "Quinta Brunson deserved better than giving her acceptance over Jimmy Kimmel's 'dead' body." At the same time, Hunter Ingram added, "The choice to make Quinta Brunson step over Jimmy Kimmel to get to the mic and then play her off early was atrocious. #Emmys."
Many people quickly noted that what made matters worse was that most of the photos taken during Brunson's speech were tarnished thanks to Kimmel splayed out on the floor next to her. @furyofthegodz showed one, in particular, simply accompanying it with, "This picture p****s me off SO bad." Thankfully, influencer Jonta Harris took the necessary action and, through the magic of Photoshop, swept Kimmel out of the shot in what, for many, might be one of the best 'fixed it for you's' on Twitter. Regardless of people's perspectives on the incident, however, Brunson gave her thoughts on the matter, and it was one that seemingly went against those that were outraged by it.
Brunson wasn't bothered by Kimmel's bit
During her time with the press after winning her award for "Abbot Elementary" (which is set to return for a second season), Quinta Brunson was asked by The Los Angeles Times how she felt about Kimmel being present in such a manner for her win. She replied, "I felt like the bit didn't bother me that much. I don't know what the internet thinks!"
Coming to the defense of her award announcer, who didn't do much in terms of announcing, Brunson backed Jimmy Kimmel, saying, "Honestly, Jimmy gave me my first late-night spot and was one of the first people to see 'Abbott.'" She explained that during the show's infancy, Kimmel was, in fact, a huge supporter of its development. "He Instagram messaged me that he saw this comedy and thought it was one of the greatest comedies of all time and he was so excited it was going to be on ABC."
Thankfully, it sounds like while a lot of eyes were on Kimmel potentially raining on her parade by corpsing next to it, Brunson was too busy eyeing her newest and well-deserved addition to her mantelpiece. "So I think in that moment, I was just really happy that it was Jimmy up there! I'm a huge fan of Will Arnett, so I was wrapped up in the moment."