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Emmy producers knew Beyoncé and Jay-Z weren’t attending the Emmys 2025 when they failed to get in formation.
The people behind the high-profile show held at Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 14, described the moment they realized the Grammy-winning couple wasn’t attending the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards.
Jesse Collins Entertainment producers Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jennae Rouzan-Clay say they learned that Beyoncé and Jay-Z were no-shows as soon as the ceremony started.
“We figured it out when they weren’t in the seats,” Collins told Variety post-show, joking that he connected the dots and thought, “‘Oh, you guys aren’t coming!'”
Beyoncé and Jay-Z were both nominated for Outstanding Variety Special (Live).
The “Break My Soul” singer earned a nod for “Beyoncé Bowl,” the Netflix film of her NFL 2024 Christmas Day Halftime Show, which was up against “The Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Starring Kendrick Lamar,” produced by her record executive husband.
Collins, who also executive-produced Beyonce’s NFL special, explained to the outlet that if the “Break My Soul” singer really wanted to be there, she would have.
“She can make anything happen,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where she is in the world right now, if she wants to be here, she’ll be here, and there will be a seat for her. Several. We’re ready for them and whatever they want to do… those are my bosses, so it’s up to them.”
The superstar duo, however, had stiff competition and lost to Lorne Michaels, who took home the Outstanding Variety Special (Live) award for “SNL50: The Anniversary Special.”
When the “Saturday Night Live” creator, 80, took the stage to accept the golden statue, he referenced winning the first-ever award in the category five decades prior.
“I won this award for the first time 50 years in 1976. I was younger and had a lot of dreams about what would happen in my life,” Michaels told the star-studded crowd. “Not one of those dreams was me doing the same show for the next 50 years.”
While thanking NBC and Comcast, he joked that he had an unlimited budget while putting the 50th anniversary special together.
“The [anniversary] show was two years in the planning and they said, ‘We don’t care what it costs as long as it’s good.’ Maybe they didn’t say that, maybe that’s just what I heard,” Michaels teased.
The “SNL50” special was also nominated for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series, but lost the Emmy to HBO’s “100 Foot Wave,” which followed surfing pioneer Garrett McNamara’s quest to conquer a 100-foot wave in Portugal.
Michaels’ win comes on the heels of the massive “SNL” shakeup ahead of its Season 51.
Comedians Devon Walker, Emil Wakim, Michael Longfellow, Ego Nwodim and Heidi Gardner will not be back when the beloved sketch comedy show returns next month.
While Walker, Wakim, Longfellow and Nwodim have all addressed their exits, Garner has yet to speak out about the news. However, an insider told The Post her contract with “SNL” was not renewed.
On the Emmys red carpet, Michaels admitted that fresh faces were essential to keeping the series from getting stale.
“It’s essential that we bring new people in every year,” he explained to Extra, noting how viewers impact casting.
“The longest four years of your life are high school, and I think that’s when people tend to attach to a cast, and that is the age of our audience in a way,” Michaels shared. “The old audience is there, but they fall asleep early.”
Five new feature players have been added to the “SNL” Season 51 lineup.
Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Ben Marshall, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska will make their debuts when the series returns to Studio 8H in Oct.
The Post has also confirmed that Bowen Yang, Chloe Fineman, Kenan Thompson, Colin Jost and Michael Che are all making comebacks, as are Mikey Day, Sarah Sherman, Marcello Hernández, Andrew Dismukes, James Austin Johnson, and Season 50 newcomers Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline.
English (US)