The Emmy Awards hit an all-time low — and not just in the ratings.
Politics dominated the red carpet for the TV awards, with some actors wearing Nike gear to support Colin Kaepernick, who started the kneeling protests in the NFL. There were Nazi jokes, plenty of Trump bashing and even a few barbed riffs on Roseanne Barr. One black actor even showed up in white face.
So it should come as no surprise that the 70th Emmy Awards’ rating slumped by 10% in early ratings from last year — setting a new all-time low with a 7.4 household rating, The Wrap reported.
That continues a trend for awards shows, all of which have become hyper-political. The 2018 Oscars dropped 16% over 2017, and the Grammys fell 20% over the previous year.
“Last year, the 69th annual Emmys on CBS hosted by Stephen Colbert dipped 2.4 percent from the prior year to a new low, per Nielsen’s household ratings,” The Wrap reported. “In 2016, the Jimmy Kimmel-hosted Emmys broadcast on ABC fetched an 8.4 in these earliest-available TV ratings, which had set a historic low of its own at the time.”
The Emmys, hosted by Saturday Night Live’s Colin Jost and Michael Che, including jokes like this:
“The only white people who thank Jesus are Republicans and ex-crackheads.”
“The Emmys were first held in 1949 … things were very different back then: We all agreed that Nazis were bad.”
“Roseanne was canceled by herself and then picked up by white nationalists.”
One Fox News commentator was not surprised by the dismal ratings.