HOLLYWOOD (CelebrityAccess) – The 75th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, considered television’s top honor – have been postponed due to the ongoing Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike.
This is the first postponement for the Emmys since the show was delayed two decades ago after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
The Emmys had been scheduled to air on Fox on September 18, with a new date yet to be set. With the actors and writers protesting in the biggest walkout in nearly 60 years, ideally, the show will not happen until SAG-AFTRA and WGA reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Negotiations are ongoing with several issues, including fair streaming residual amounts and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in productions. The organizations are still in talks with each other, and as of press time, an agreement has yet to be reached.
The Emmys could have gone on with the “show,” but it would have been primarily empty chairs – resulting in no red carpet, no big stars and, more than likely, low ratings. SAG-AFTRA’s strike rules call for actors not to do publicity for work made by struck companies – and an awards show would fall under that umbrella. Perhaps even more critical, WGA members write material for the host and the presenters, so as with the Tony Awards, everything would be off the cuff.
Phase two voting for the Emmy Awards is still moving forward as originally planned. TV Academy members will vote on the nominees starting August 17.
The Creative Arts Emmys are also likely to be postponed from their respective date in September, which celebrates artistic and technical achievements in television. Here’s to hoping an agreement is reached expeditiously so the Emmy award winners will have their trophies by the end of 2023.
CelebrityAccess has reached out to WGA and SAG-AFTRA for comment.
