John Oliver stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live after earning two Emmys for Last Week Tonight, and took the opportunity to reflect on being forced to keep his acceptance speech short.
Oliver recounted how he managed to thank everyone in only 19 seconds after the Emmys host, Nate Bargatze, kicked off a long-running (and much-maligned) bit where money was deducted from the Boys & Girls Club of America if a speech went over 45 seconds.
“My motivating factor was just to cost Nate Bargatze money personally,” Oliver told Kimmel. “Whether or not it went to a good cause that was enough for me. The fact that it went to the Boys & Girls of America is great, but, again, it would have been fine if it was just set fire to.”
Kimmel noted that even though Oliver kept his speech short, other winners didn’t manage it quite as well. “I thought I was in a good position,” Oliver replied. “I speak pretty fast on the show anyway.”
The hosts also discussed Stephen Colbert and The Late Show winning the Emmy for Outstanding Talk Series despite their recent cancellation. “I was backstage,” Oliver recalled. “I was obviously very happy. I got to see it because I stopped the interview so I could watch him get up and speak. So it was great. I think we were all very happy.”
He added, “I will say this. I know we wanted him to win. The right thing to happen was for him to win. The funniest thing to happen would have been if you had won.”
“You’re right,” Kimmel replied. Oliver continued, “Most of me wanted him to win. A part of me, the part of me that I like more, just wanted to see your face go ‘Oh no, not like this.’”
Following the Emmys, Rolling Stone wrote that Bargatze “at best seemed confused about why anybody watching at home should care about any of this, and at worst radiated absolute contempt for the whole thing.” The review added that the ongoing bit about the deducting from a charitable donation for longer speech set a negative tone. “Bargatze, and the show, were actively rooting against people expressing joy at having won these awards, and they wanted the audience to root against them, too,” the review noted.
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