Donald Trump famously declared that “Stupid Jimmy Kimmel” would “go down in television history as the worst host ever of the once vaunted Academy Awards.” But Emmy voters apparently disagree.
Kimmel and Molly McNearney have been nominated for two Emmy Awards related to their work on this year’s Academy Awards telecast.
As was widely expected, the husband-and-wife team were nominated Wednesday morning in the Emmy’s Outstanding Talk Series category for Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where they both serve as executive producers. (McNearney is also the co-head writer.)
But outside of Kimmel’s namesake show, the duo have teamed up on a number of extracurriculars, including the Oscars. Kimmel hosted the awards show for the fourth time this year, and McNearney served as one of its executive producers.
The Oscarcast was a hit—both critically (thanks in part to an unlikely assist from Trump) and among viewers, who tuned into the show in numbers not seen since the start of the pandemic.
And now it’s an Emmy nominee in the Outstanding Variety Special (Live) category.
Kimmel has been nominated in the category each of his past three times hosting The Oscars, but the award ceremony has never won in this specific category—with any host. Kimmel has won it twice for something else, though: His Live in Front of a Studio Audience specials earned him two consecutive wins in 2019 and 2020.
This year’s Oscars ceremony is also nominated in the Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special category. Kimmel and McNearney are among the writers who would receive an award if the program wins. (They’ll be competing in the category against friend and one-time Kimmel guest host Mike Birbiglia, who is nominated for his Netflix special The Old Man And The Pool.)
Before this morning, no Academy Award ceremony had been nominated for writing since 2012—and none have won since 1992.
