Jimmy Kimmel regrets his Quinta Brunson comedy bit at Emmys
Sep 29, 2022
Washington [US], September 29 : American host and Comedian Jimmy Kimmel has said he misjudged how people would react to his pretending-to-be-drunk comedy bit at the Emmy Awards which distracted 'Abbott Elementary' creator Quinta Brunson during her acceptance speech.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, while appearing on Howard Stern's SiriusXM show on Wednesday Kimmel said he regrets taking focus from Brunson.
At the Emmys Kimmel and Will Arnett presented the best writing for a comedy series award. During that Arnett dragged the 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' host onstage and explained Kimmel had a few drinks after his show's loss to 'Last Week Tonight With John Oliver' for best variety talk series.
"How I visualized this happening is he drags me out, we read the winner, and then I'm just basically just out of the shot, and it's not really a factor. But the stage was very different. The stage was like a catwalk. So, I was kind of in the way, in a way I didn't imagine," Kimmel told Stern, reported The Hollywood Reporter.
As Brunson came to accept her award Kimmel continued lying onstage. This caused a backlash among some viewers, who felt it was disrespectful to her.
Addressing this, the late-night show host said, "Some people read racial stuff into this, and everybody has their own perspective, but the fact of the matter is ... this was a plan I had no matter who [won]."
Kimmel also revealed that after her win he and Brunson had "a nice conversation" backstage and that he didn't learn about the reaction to the stunt until after the awards ended.
"I do understand that. It did take away, especially afterwards, because then she had to answer questions about that instead of just celebrating her Emmy," he said.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, two days after the Emmys, Brunson was a guest on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' where the host apologized to her, saying, "I'm sorry I did do that, actually. And also, the last thing I would ever want to do was upset you because I think so much of you."
