Hacks star Hannah Einbinder dashed any chance of an apolitical Emmys as she accepted her award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series by declaring, “F— ICE, free Palestine.”
This year’s Emmys were held under unusually tight security because of the fatal shooting last week of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. And many celebrities chose their words very carefully, in light of recent firings over public reactions to Kirk’s death that were deemed distasteful.
But Einbinder didn’t censor herself on two particularly divisive subjects — though the CBS broadcast did censor her language.
“I just want to say, finally, Go Birds, f— ICE and free Palestine,” she said from the stage. The Emmys audience roared.
Backstage, she elaborated on her statement, saying she has friends who are working as frontline medical workers in Gaza. She said she feels that “it is my obligation as a Jewish person to distinguish Jews from the state of Israel. Because our religion and our culture is such an important and long-standing institution that is really separate to this sort of ethnonationalist state.”
Until Einbinder’s declaration, the Emmys had been fairly apolitical. The host, Nate Bargatze, has long been known for working clean and avoiding politics, and Sunday’s show was no exception.
He started the show with a funny sketch about Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor of television, and used the time that normally might have gone to a monologue to a funny routine in which he explained that he would be donating $100,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and adding or subtracting money based on whether winners went over or under a 45-second time limit for their speeches. It became a running gag throughout the night.
Einbinder went over her time, but pledged to pay the Boys & Girls Clubs for the difference.
(And if you’re wondering about the “Go Birds” declaration: Einbinder is a longtime Philadelphia Eagles fan because her father is from the Philadelphia area.)
Hannah Einbinder, The Emmys and Politics
The other big political moment of the Emmys was unspoken: Stephen Colbert took the stage to hand out the night’s first big award, and ask the audience, “Is anyone hiring?”
It worked as a joke about his show’s recent cancellation, but also as a moment of defiance, given its context.
This year’s Emmys are airing on CBS, owned by Paramount. In July, Paramount paid $16 million to settle a Trump lawsuit. Because the payment came as Paramount sought to seal a $1.5 billion sale — and hoped to avoid federal intervention from the Trump Administration — Colbert called it “a big fat bribe.”
Days later, his series, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, was cancelled.
Trump subsequently said on Truth Social that he was not to blame for Colbert’s cancellation.
“Everybody is saying that I was solely responsible for the firing of Stephen Colbert from CBS, Late Night,” Trump wrote. “That is not true! The reason he was fired was a pure lack of TALENT, and the fact that this deficiency was costing CBS $50 Million Dollars a year in losses — And it was only going to get WORSE!”
Another political moment came later in the show, when Televison Academy chair Cris Abrego called on the industry not to regress, but to keep fighting for inclusion and societal uplift. He cited the long history of groundbreaking television shows, from All in the Family to South Park.
The latter show has spent much of its current 27th season mocking Trump Administration policies. It has also mocked Paramount, which owns Comedy Central, the network that airs South Park, for paying to settle the Trump lawsuit.
Main image: Hannah Einbinder backstage at the Emmys with fellow Hacks star and Emmy winner Jean Smart. CBS.
Editor’s Note: Corrects spelling of Hannah Einbinder.