With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Television Academy and CBS decided to host the 73rd Emmys on the Event Deck at L.A. LIVE, directly behind the Microsoft Theater, their usual venue. They said this would give them an indoor/outdoor setting and more socially distanced audience seating.
The limited audience sat at round tables as opposed to theater-style seating, and all attendees and employees had to provide proof of vaccination, as well as a negative Covid test within 48 hours of the event.
Despite their attempt at safety precautions, some attendees were unhappy with the Emmys and felt they had been lied to upon arrival. When actor Seth Rogen took the stage to present one of the first awards of the night, he made sure to speak his mind and call out the Emmys for their lies.
“Let me start by saying, there’s way too many of us in this little room. What are we doing? They said this was outdoors. It’s not,” Rogen said.
While they claimed having the event at this venue would give them an indoor/outdoor setting, the area where the awards were held seemed to be indoors. The customizable space has a large carpeted tent that has the capacity to hold 3,000 people and definitely has a more “indoor” feel.
“They lied to us. We’re in a hermetically sealed tent right now,” Rogen joked. “I would not have come to this. Why is there a roof? It’s more important that we have three chandeliers than that we make sure we don’t kill Eugene Levy tonight. That is what has been decided.”
No Masks at the #Emmys because rules are for the little people. pic.twitter.com/dNi34YRCP5
— Eric Bott (@BottAFP) September 20, 2021
“This is insane,” he continued. “I went from wiping my groceries to Paul Bettany sneezing in my face. So, that’s a big week! If anyone’s gonna sneeze in my face, Paul, I want it to be you. Alright, that’s all the jokes I wrote.”
While Rogen was mostly joking while talking some truth, many people took to Twitter to agree with the actor and voice their concerns.
No distancing, no masks. Clearly a slap in the face for all the font line workers that are still dealing with the pandemic. Check your privilege @TheEmmys #Emmys
— Taylor (@EpiTaylor) September 20, 2021
The Emmys displayed a public service announcement later in the show, and host Cedric the Entertainer reminded everyone that attendees were required to not only be fully vaccinated, but also provide a negative Covid test.
Watch Seth Rogen call out the Emmys in the video below: