Emmys 2023: The biggest talking points, from wild speeches to the Matthew Perry tribute
All the must-know moments from a night dominated by ‘Succession’ and ‘The Bear’
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Your support makes all the difference.The biggest night in television has officially drawn to a close, with Succession and The Bear among the shows awarded at the 75th Emmy Awards.
It may have been postponed by four months because of the Hollywood strikes, but this edition was worth the wait for Succession’s Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook and Matthew Macfadyen, and The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Ayo Edebiri, who all went home with prizes.
But of course, the winners list isn’t always the biggest talking point of the night. It was hardly a surprise that these shows won big. More unexpected? Some of the onstage antics.
Read all about the must-know moments from the ceremony, which took place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, here…
Pedro Pascal vs Kieran Culkin
The Last of Us star Pascal issued a cheeky retort to Succession’s Kieran Culkin while presenting the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
Culkin had previously told Pascal to “suck it” while accepting the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama earlier this month.
This moment was alluded to when Pascal, who lost to Culkin at the Globes and was competing against him at the Emmys, took the stage at the prestigious TV awards.
Pascal, who was wearing a sling around his arm, told the audience: “A lot of people have been asking about my arm, it’s actually my shoulder... Kieran Culkin beat the s*** out of me.”
The moment was censored in the TV broadcast of the event and Culkin was seen staring in mock anger from his seat in the audience, before eventually breaking into a smile.
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Why do a conventional speech when you can rap?
Paul Walter Hauser rapped his acceptance speech after winning in the Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie category for his role in Black Bird.
“Thank you to the voters in the TV academy, thank you mom and dad, you nurtured what I had in me. Dennis Lehane, Taron Egerton, your talent can move boulders. If I look tall it’s cause I’m standing on both of their shoulders,” he rapped.
It served as a welcome change from the monotonous list of thank yous at awards dos.
Succession and The Bear dominate
HBO’s universally acclaimed drama Succession won a total of six awards in the drama categories, including Best Series, Best Actor (for Kieran Culkin), Best Actress (for Sarah Snook) and Best Supporting Actor (for Matthew Macfadyen).
The comedy strand, meanwhile, was dominated by FX’s knife-edge culinary comedy The Bear, which also won six prizes, with Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach taking home three of the four acting awards. And in the limited series field, it was Netflix’s tit-for-tat thriller Beef that won the night, garnering five wins.
Bella Ramsey and Ariana DeBose hug it out
The pair were pictured embracing each other warmly at the ceremony. Just one day previously, Ramsey had delivered a joke at DeBose’s expense while presenting the trophy for Best Song at the Critics Choice Awards.
Announcing the award next to In the Heights star Anthony Ramos, Ramsey namechecked DeBose alongside Jack Black and Ryan Gosling as “actors who also think that they are singers”.
The quip did not go down well with DeBose, who was in attendance and could be seen scowling. She subsequently wrote on Instagram that she “didn’t find it funny”.
It all seems like water under the bridge now.
Matthew Perry given emotional tribute
Matthew Perry, who died aged 54 after being found unresponsive in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home earlier this year, received an emotional tribute during the In Memoriam segment, which also included late stars such as Len Goodman, Lance Reddick, and Barbara Walters.
Pop singer Charlie Puth and singer-songwriter duo The War and Treaty performed during the tributes, first starting with a rendition of Puth’s “See You Again” before delivering a cover of the Friends theme song (“I’ll Be There for You” by The Rembrandts).
Many viewers took to social media to share that they had been moved to tears by the segment.
Kieran Culkin makes a proposal
Kieran Culkin had his wife, Jazz Charton, and the audience at the 2024 Emmys in stitches as he made his acceptance speech.
The Succession star, who won the award for Best Actor in a Drama Series for his performance as the mischievous, foul-mouthed Roman Roy, used his speech to tell Charton: “Thank you for sharing your life with me and giving me two amazing kids... I want more. You said ‘maybe’, if I win! I love you so much.”
In response, Charton could be seen covering her face with her hands in a mixture of joy and shock.
A long and surprising snog
Ebon Moss-Bachrach planted a huge smooch on Matty Matheson’s lips after The Bear won Best Comedy Series.
The whole cast took to the stage to accept the award, but it was TV chef-turned-actor Matheson who grabbed the microphone.
“I just want to thank restaurants as a whole, hospitality as a whole,” the actor began. But before he could finish, Moss-Bachrach grabbed Mattheson by the sides of his head and pulled him in for a lengthy smooch, causing shocked reactions from their cast mates and cheers from the audience.
“I love you Ebon,” a slightly stunned Matheson said after the kiss.
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