Emmy awards 2026 live: the red carpet, the winners, the losers, the speeches

Key events1h agoWhen and where can I watch the Emmys?1h agoWelcome to TV's night of nights!Sian CainJust an interesting note re Apple TV, which has really come into its own over the last couple years: the streamer has won best comedy three times now (Ted Lasso twice and The Studio once) – but it has never won best drama, despite giving us great shows like Slow Horses and Severance. But Apple TV has two best drama nominations tonight - season five of Slow Horses and season one of Pluribus – so it could yet win TV’s most prestigious prize (if The Pitt somehow doesn’t win it again).Adrian HortonAlso making their grand entrance – my two faves, Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell, looking classy as ever. The Americans power couple turned once again dual nominees tonight could potentially become the first couple to win Emmys for different shows (Widow’s Bay and/or The Beast in Me for him, The Diplomat for her). Photograph: Michael Buckner/Variety/Getty ImagesAdrian HortonZendaya is here! With even shorter hair than she’s been sporting of late and a dazzling silver gown that I will be examining from multiple angles: Photograph: NBC/Getty Images Photograph: Daniel Cole/Reuters Photograph: Monica Schipper/Getty ImagesAdrian HortonSeveral of the best actress nominees – in drama, comedy and limited series – are making their way into the Peacock Theater:Rhea Seehorn Photograph: Michael Buckner/Variety/Getty ImagesElle Fanning Photograph: Matt Baron/BEI/ShutterstockChase Infiniti Photograph: Monica Schipper/Getty ImagesQuinta Brunson Photograph: Monica Schipper/Getty ImagesAdrian Horton Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty ImagesJust a note on that Bad Bunny win at the un-televised night formerly known as the “Creative Arts Emmys”… the Puerto Rican superstar’s groundbreaking performance smashed the record for Emmys won by a Super Bowl halftime show, with seven total awards. (The only other Super Bowl halftime show to win for best live variety special – the 2022 hip-hop show starring Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent – took home three awards.) Bad Bunny’s show, for which he won as both performer and producer, also became the first Spanish-language program to win live variety special. The big Bad Bunny year continues!Adrian HortonWith a little under an hour till showtime, the stars are starting to trickle in, including a very glam Detective Olivia Benson aka first-time host Mariska Hargitay:Mariska Hargitay Photograph: Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty ImagesSelena Gomez Photograph: Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty ImagesThe Pitt’s Noah Wyle Photograph: Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty ImagesColman Domingo Photograph: Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty ImagesAdrian HortonWell, it wouldn’t be a red carpet without Hacks’s Meg Stalter and Paul W Downs stunting with a coordinated costume… and for the show’s final Emmys go-around, Stalter is going as Miss Emmy Trophy herself, gold overhead globe and angel wings and all. Which is making for some amazing cutaways from the more serious folk posing for photos nearby. Photograph: Amy Sussman/Getty Images Photograph: David Fisher/ShutterstockSian CainAs a reward for sticking with me, here are some of the Emmy winners already announced:Supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie: David Harbour – DTF St LouisSupporting actress in a limited or anthology series or movie: Linda Cardellini – DTF St LouisGuest actress in a drama series: Shailene Woodley – ParadiseGuest actor in a drama series: Ernest Harden Jr – The PittGuest actress in a comedy series: Betty Gilpin – Widow’s BayGuest actor in a comedy series: Rob Reiner – The BearTelevision movie: Remarkably Bright CreaturesVariety special (live): The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad BunnyVariety special (pre-recorded): The Muppet ShowOutstanding animated program: South ParkSian CainWhy have some Emmy winners already been announced?‘Emmys Night 2’ winner Betty Gilpin for best guest actress in Widow’s Bay. Photograph: Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesThere are more than 100 Emmys categories every year (yes, you read that right) and no one wants to make Mark Ruffalo sit through all that, he’s too nice. So roughly a week before there is a pre-Emmys Emmys ceremony called the Creative Arts Emmys, where the wonderful production crews behind your favourite shows get their much deserved awards with no public fanfare whatsoever.But broadcast television is dying (RIP), so the Television Academy (the group behind the Emmys) has increasingly been shuffling more and more categories out of the main televised ceremony (dubbed the Primetime Emmys) into the Creative Arts Emmys. These categories include some acting awards, such as best guest actor and supporting actor in a limited series, meaning there will be 19 awards given out tonight, down from 26 last year.This has irritated some people in Hollywood, but the Emmys are already three hours long and I am charging the Guardian through the arse to liveblog this, so it is good for journalism, good for Mark Ruffalo, good for all of us.This year the Creative Arts Emmys on 5 and 6 September were renamed Emmys Night 1 and Emmys Night 2, as part of a rebranding effort to make the Emmys a sort of two week bender. Which is a bit like that one friend of yours who insists their birthday celebrations go for the whole month. It doesn’t work like that, Television Academy. Also that makes this Emmys Night 3, which is just a bad name.Adrian HortonAnn Dowd and Jean Smart in Hacks Photograph: Courtesy of HBO MaxThe Pitt may lead the night in nominations, but Hacks has already made history – its 24 nominations are the most in a single year for a comedy, ever. And should star Jean Smart win a fifth award in as many seasons playing the inimitable piece of work known as Deborah Vance, she’ll set the record for the most number of Emmy wins held by one person at eight. (That is, if The Diplomat’s Allison Janney, nominated for best supporting actress in a drama, doesn’t also win and tie her, or break the record herself.)Adrian HortonThe staff of Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center – aka The Pitt – have hit the red carpet:Katherine LaNasa Photograph: Amy Sussman/Getty ImagesFiona Dourif Photograph: Amy Sussman/Getty ImagesSupriya Ganesh Photograph: Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty ImagesShabana Azeez Photograph: Christopher Polk/Deadline/Getty ImagesGerran Howell Photograph: Michael Buckner/Variety/Getty ImagesSian CainCould Rhea Seehorn finally win her first Emmy?Rhea Seehorn in Pluribus. Photograph: BFA/AlamyThe Emmys don’t always get it right: Better Call Saul famously holds the record for the most primetime nominations (53) without bagging a single win over its six seasons. The greatest injustice was the fact that Rhea Seehorn never got her flowers for her astounding performance as the ever-dependable lawyer Kim Wexler, the only person on Earth who could inspire Jimmy McGill to do the right thing.But will the Emmys finally right that wrong tonight? Seehorn is nominated for outstanding actress in a drama for her performance as Carol in Pluribus, a show that largely relies on her talents. Carol is cranky, she’s smart, she has an atom bomb. As Rebecca Shaw wrote, she ushered in the “Bitch Lesbian” era of television. Our feelings for you haven’t changed, Carol.Seehorn is up against Carrie Coon (The Gilded Age), Chase Infiniti (The Testaments), Keri Russell (The Diplomat) and Zendaya (Euphoria) – but surely this is finally her night.When and where can I watch the Emmys?Sian CainIf you are interested in watching today, the Emmys ceremony begin at 8pmET/5pm PT in the US, 10am AEST in Australia and 1am in the UK.As for where to watch the ceremony:US: NBC/PeacockAustralia: Binge and FoxtelUK: no British broadcaster is scheduled to show it live (but if you are in the UK and up at 1am just for the Emmys, I admire your dedication.)Emma JoyceMariska Hargitay’s Emmys host debut Photograph: Mike Blake/ReutersIn an unusual move for the Emmys, tonight’s host is not a comedian but four-time Emmy winner Mariska Hargitay. When the Law & Order: SVU actor was first contacted for the gig, she initially thought it was a joke or that she was about to be fired from her longtime role as Olivia Benson. Thankfully neither was true, and now Hargitay is the first woman host for the Emmys in 15 years, since Glee’s Jane Lynch in 2011.Leading up to the awards, Hargitay enlisted the help of writers from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which aired for the last time in May, to finesse her material. The team even “set up shop” at the SVU set in New York, according to the Hollywood Reporter.“I think one of the most important things is that I, to quote Frank Sinatra, I gotta do it my way,” Hargitay told THR. “I’m a very different, sort of unconventional host and I love that because I’m not a comedian, so that’s not necessarily what we’re doing. But you’ve gotta be me, right, you’ve gotta show up as your best self, so that’s what I’m doing.”It’s been a busy time for the 63-year-old actor, who made her Broadway debut this year in Every Brilliant Thing before sprinting to Madison Square Garden to cheer the New York Knicks to their first NBA championship since 1973. Hargitay is also back on set for season 28 of Law & Order: SVU, and last weekend she collected her third and fourth Emmys for the documentary My Mom Jayne, about her mother Jayne Mansfield.Welcome to TV's night of nights!Adrian HortonShabana Azeez, Noah Wyle and Supriya Ganesh in The Pitt. Photograph: Landmark Media/AlamyHere we are again – that one night, out of sync with all the other awards nights, where you realize how much TV you missed this year. No more time to catch up! The Emmys are back, and we’ve got several real races on our hands.After crashing the prestige TV gates last year by nearly sweeping the drama awards, The Pitt, HBO Max’s back-to-basics medical drama, is once again the favorite for tonight’s premiere best drama award (and I’d have my money on Noah Wyle for repeat best actor, as well). Another win would make the hit series the first to win for its first two seasons since Mad Men in 2009… but keep an eye out for Pluribus, the critical darling from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, a slow-burn that has a dark horse shot.On the comedy side, one would ordinarily assume that the fifth and final season of beloved Emmys stalwart Hacks would have this all wrapped up – but then Widow’s Bay, the Apple TV+ horror-comedy starring multiple nominee Matthew Rhys, became the breakout TV hit of the summer. And in limited series/anthology, we have the return of Beef, which cleaned up in three years ago for its first installment, though pre-telecast acting awards for DTF St Louis’s David Harbour and Linda Cardinelli suggest a changing of the guard …The night, then, promises at least one surprise, as well as the usual cast reunions and tributes shepherded, for the first time, by Mariska Hargitay, who between the Knicks and Detective Olivia Benson becoming the longest-running primetime character ever, is having a championship year. Stick with us for all the highlights!