STARS PLAY TRUMP CARD
Awards take a back seat to politics
And the winner is . . . politics! The 69th Primetime Emmy Awards took politically charged award-show commentary to new heights Sunday — with an appearance by former White House spokesman Sean Spicer and a heavy helping of attacks on President Trump by host Stephen Colbert and various Hollywood stars.
The CBS broadcast got right to the Trump-bashing, with a prerecorded musical sketch by Colbert in which he and other celebrities took potshots at the president before segueing to a live dance number.
“The Americans have hotter spies than the Russia inquiry, even treason’s better on TV!” they sang as images of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump flashed on screen.
At one point in the sketch, Julia Louis-Dreyfus appeared at a fake White House press conference podium and slammed Trump for being supported by white supremacists.
“I’d like to vote for Selina Meyer,” Colbert sang, referencing the former “Seinfeld” star’s character in “Veep” before another voice added: “She’s pretty foxy.”
To which Louis-Dreyfus replied, “Imagine if your president wasn’t beloved by Nazis.”
The song and dance later cut to a few lines from Chance The Rapper, who made a reference to the legendary 1970s TV show “M*A*S*H,” saying, “Hawkeye can be a solider, why not [transgender actress] Laverne Cox.” The rap was an apparent reference to Trump’s plan to ban transgender people from the military.
Later, during his monologue, Colbert said Trump was the year’s biggest TV star and said many shows have been “influenced” by him.
“All the late-night shows, obviously. ‘House of Cards,’ the new season of ‘American Horror Story,’ and, of course, next year’s Latin Grammys hosted by Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Muy cal
iente,” he said, referring to the Arizona ex-sheriff pardoned by Trump after being convicted for contempt of court for targeting immigrants.
Colbert later noted how the president has repeatedly referred to the Emmys as being “rigged.”
“Even during the campaign, Trump would not let it go,” Colbert said.
He then played a clip of Trump and Hillary Clinton going back and forth during a debate about the subject, with Trump saying he “should’ve gotten” an award.
“But he didn’t,” Colbert said. “Because, unlike the presidency, Emmys go to the winner of the popular vote.”
The climax of the opening monologue came with Spicer wheeling out onto the Emmy stage on a motorized lectern to make a joke about his widely disputed January claims on the size of Trump’s
Inauguration Day crowd.
“This will be the largest audience to witness the Emmys, both in person and around the world,” Spicer said.
“Melissa McCarthy, everyone!” Colbert replied, in reference to the actress’ spot-on impressions of Spicer on “Saturday Night Live.” “Give it up!”
While most of the politics was contained in the show’s first 15 minutes, the anti-Trump vitriol spilled over into the rest of the event, as well.
Alec Baldwin, who won Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy for his portrayal of Trump on “SNL,” needled the president during his acceptance speech for never getting an Emmy.
“I suppose I should say at long last, Mr. President, here is your Emmy,” Baldwin teased. “I want to thank my wife. My wife and I had three children in three years and we didn’t have a child last year during the ‘SNL’ season. I wonder if there is a correlation there. All you men up there, you put that orange wig on, it’s birth control, trust me.”
Jane Fonda and “9 to 5” co-star Lily Tomlin also riffed on the president while presenting an award with Dolly Parton.
“Back in 1980, in that movie, we refused to be controlled by a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot,” Fonda said.
“And in 2017, we still refuse to be controlled by a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot,” Tomlin added.
Some of the big award winners of the night were “SNL,” which won Best Variety Sketch Series and several supporting acting awards; Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which won Best Drama Series; HBO’s “Big Little Lies,” which nearly swept its acting categories and won for Bestst Limited Series; and “Veep,” which won for Best Comedy.
Louis-Dreyfus, who won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy, may have had the most to celebrate: She set a record for most Emmys for the same role, passing Candice Bergen andd Don Knotts.
“This is, and continues to be, the role of a lifetime and an adventure of utter, utter joy,” LouisDreyfus said during her acceptance speech.
“We did have a whole storyline about an impeachment,” she added, in reference to the next season of “Veep.” “But we abandoned that because we were afraid someone else might get to it first.”