Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel’s Emmy Campaigns Get Nasty

Finally, a new late-night war. Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers have formally initiated a rivalry in their Emmy race with a series of tongue-in-cheek political attack ads.

With Meyers guesting on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night, Kimmel pointed out the awkwardness of the Late Night host’s visit, given that he was only in Los Angeles to campaign for the upcoming Emmy nominations. Meyers and Kimmel’s shows are competing for nods in the same category, Outstanding Talk Series.

Suggesting that a nomination for Late Night with Seth Meyers could knock JKL out of the race, Kimmel had an offensive tactic up his sleeve. Tossing to what he purported to be a clip from Meyers’ show, Kimmel instead rolled out a political-style attack ad taking “a closer look” at Meyers’ red flags: refusing to wear a suit (not unlike Osama bin Laden, Kimmel says) and his frequent day-drinking.

Meyers then unveiled his own ad to combat Kimmel’s faux ambush, taking the ABC host to task for “using forced foreign labor” in his sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez. Meyers even roped Rodriguez into the ad, getting the security guard to lodge kidnapping and torture accusations against his boss.

But the battle was far from over, as Kimmel debuted a second ad with the help of Meyers’ brother Josh Meyers, who regularly appears on JKL as California governor Gavin Newsom. From there, Meyers found a second person from Kimmel’s life to turn traitor, enlisting his wife and JKL executive producer/co-head writer Molly McNearney to reveal the ABC host’s messy at-home habits.

When all was said and done, a fifth ad debuted to both hosts’ faux-surprise, courtesy of their kids. Two of Kimmel’s real-life children—young Billy and adult Kevin Kimmel—took part in the segment, alongside a group of actors playing Meyers’ kids, as they railed against their dads “want[ing] Emmys more than they want us.”

“Would you give a trophy to a dad who doesn’t care about anything else?” they argued. “Say no to deadbeat daddy!”

Late Night and Jimmy Kimmel Live! have gone head-to-head in the Emmys’ Outstanding Talk Show category for the past three years, losing out to The Daily Show or Last Week Tonight each time. This year, Meyers’ HBO standup special, Dad Man Walking, is also in the running for a nomination in the Best Variety Special category.

The voting period for Emmy nominations begins June 12. Nominees will be announced on July 15. The 77th Emmy Awards are set to air on CBS on Sunday, September 14.