15 January 2024 , 13:00
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The 75th Primetime Emmy Awards were postponed for only the second time in the ceremony’s history after Hollywood was rocked by the biggest actors and writers strike in more than 60 years.
The star-studded awards bash is usually held in September, and nominations were announced on July 12 last year, with Succession, The Last Of Us, and The White Lotus scoring plentiful nominations. However, Hollywood ground to a screeching halt just two days later, when it was announced that the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) would be going on strike over streaming residuals and the implementation of artificial intelligence.
The strike coincided with the Writers Guild of America strike, which began in May, and the action upended Hollywood, and it was estimated that around 45,000 people lost their jobs. It was the biggest strike action seen in the entertainment industry since 1960, and made history as the longest-running dispute in Hollywood.
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Julia Garner won an Emmy back in 2022 (NBC via Getty Images)
Brett Goldstein and Hannah Waddingham won big for their roles on Ted Lasso in 2022 (Getty Images)There were dramatic scenes in London when Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt and Matt Damon walked out of the UK premiere of Oppenheimer after the strike action was announced, and thousands of interviews to promote movies such as Barbie, Blue Beetle, and Gran Turismo were scrapped for fear of breaching strike rules. Months of picketing outside Hollywood studios followed, with celebrities including Adam Sandler, Jason Sudeikis, Susan Sarandon and Paul Dano joined fellow union members on the picket lines.
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A deal was finally struck between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) in November, and Hollywood was back in business once again. Work resumed on delayed movies and TV shows, with the cast of Stranger Things recently revealing they had finally started filming season five, and awards shows were frantically rescheduled.
Jason Sudeikis joined a strike picket line in New York (Getty Images)The Emmys, which was pushed from its original September 18 slot last year, will now take place on January 15, place on January 7, the Television Academy and ceremony broadcaster Fox confirmed last year. It was the first time that the awards’ ceremony had been postponed since 9/11, when the show was pushed from September to November.
The Last of Us, The White Lotus and Ted Lasso are leading the nominees this year, and after Succession dominated the Golden Globes last week, the show’s stars Sarah Snook, Kieran Cullkin and Matthew Macfadyen are hoping to replicate their incredible award wins by taking home an Emmy apiece. Almost every leading cast member from the hit drama has been nominated, with Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong also battling it out with Kieran for the Best Actor in a Drama Series gong, and Matthew up against Alan Ruck and Nicholas Braun and Alexander Skarsgård for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.