John oliver Deliberately โคShortened Emmys Acceptance โSpeech toโ Penalize Host Nate Bargatze’s Running Gag
Los โคAngeles, CAโข – John Oliver intentionally kept his Emmy acceptance speech brief on Monday night as a โplayful jab at host Nate Bargatze’s ongoing joke about deductingโ from a charitableโ donationโค for speeches exceeding aโข time limit. Oliver, accepting the award for Outstanding Talkโ series for The Late Showโ with โStephen Colbert, revealed he strategically minimized his remarks to “cost Nate Bargatze money.”
The bit stemmed from Bargatze repeatedly announcing throughout โคthe evening โthat a donation toโ a charity would be reduced for every second over a certain โtime โlimit that presenters and winners spoke. Whileโ the gag wasโ met with mixed reactions, โOliver saw โan opportunityโ forโข comedic timing.โ “I was backstage,” Oliver recalled to Jimmy Kimmel, “I โwas obviously โขvery happy. I got โto see it as I stoppedโฃ the โขinterview โso I could โwatch him getโ up and speak. So it was great. โขI think โคwe were all very happy.” He then admitted,โ “Mostโ of me wanted him โto win. A partโ of me, the part of me that I like โmore, โjust wanted to see your โคface goโ ‘Oh no, not like this.'”
The late Show’s Emmy winโค came despite the show’s recent โขcancellation, adding a bittersweet note toโ the victory. Stephen Colbert himself accepted the award,prompting Oliver to pause an interview to witness the moment.โฃ Rolling Stone‘s review of the Emmys noted Bargatzeโ “at best seemed confused about why anybody watching at โhome should care about any of this, and at worst radiated โขabsolute โฃcontempt for the wholeโฃ thing,” criticizing the donation โขdeduction bit asโฃ creating a negative atmosphere. Oliver’s response underscores โฃthe playful tension surrounding the host’s unconventional approach to the awards show.
