Friday, May 22, 2026

Pandemic’s Price: Emmy Awards Face a 2nd Year without Governor’s Balls or Live Audiences for Shows

Share

There will be an Emmy Awards. But it will be like last year’s show– no live audience, and no Governor’s Ball.

Same as last year.

With COVID on the rise again in Los Angeles, and the Delta variant wreaking havoc, thousands of people will not be congregating at parties or the actual show on September 19th.

Ditto for the Creative Arts Emmys on September 11th and 12th.

According to the TV Academy, they will host “a series of enhanced Emmy Nominee Celebrations in advance of the Emmys at its NoHo Arts District campus. These intimate-themed gatherings will honor nominees across the numerous peer groups.”

The big Emmys show on September 19th will be limited to nominees and their guests.

You have to feel bad for these people. They’re not getting the treatment of past Emmy players. But until everyone is vaccinated and the variants have abated, this is how things will work all over the country, not just in Los Angeles.

Get vaccinated!

Donate to Showbiz411.com

Showbiz411 is now in its 13th year of providing breaking and exclusive entertainment news. This is an independent site, unlike the many Hollywood trades that are owned by one company. To continue providing news that takes a fresh look at what's going on in movies, music, theater, etc, advertising is our basis. Reader donations would be greatly appreciated, too. They are just another facet of keeping fact based journalism alive.
Thank you


Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

Read more

In Other News