Creative Arts Emmy Awards: 3 controversial moments over the years 

The Primetime Emmy has been telecasted for over 74 years since its inception in 1949. It's also called the Television Academy Awards because it is considered the most honorary among all the television awards, so the moments of controversy in Primetime Emmys get inscribed in history.

Many controversial moments in Emmys' history can be reminisced on the eve of the 75th Primetime Emmys Creative Arts telecast on January 13, 2024, on Fox. From revoking the awards and on-stage proposals to dark jokes from the hosts and the presenters, the Emmys have seen it all.

---

3 of the most Controversial Moments in the history of Primetime Emmy Awards

1) Revocation of the Awards

Although unbelievable, the revocation of awards has happened several times before. It first occurred in 2000 when Henry Winkler was awarded the Guest Actor in a Comedy for Battery Park. His award was taken away as a rectifying move, following the Emmys' mistake of accepting Battery Park despite its cut-off dates.

Another instance of revocation of the award was with Kevin Spacey. In 2017, Spacey was set to be awarded the International Emmy Founder Award. But after his sexual assault charges, the Emmy dropped his name from the award, revoking their decision.

Bill Cosby was also sentenced for sexual assault charges, and even though the Emmys didn't ask for his award back, they took him down from the list of winners from their website.

---

2) An on-stage proposal

Glenn Weiss won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Director in 2018 for a Variety Show. While on the stage, fans expected him to give a standard acceptance speech like everyone else, but he chose to propose to his girlfriend, Jen Svendsen.

Glenn proposed to her with the ring his father had proposed to his mother. Glenn began his proposal by calling Jen the sunshine of his life. Then he went down on one knee and said,

"You wonder why I don't like to call you my girlfriend? Because I want to call you my wife."

---

3) Bryan Cranston and Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Emmy kiss

Julia and Brayan Cranston were co-stars on the comedy sitcom Seinfeld, where they shared a kissing scene. They were called on stage to present an award at the 2014 Primetime Emmys when Julia teased Cranston, saying she didn't remember his existence on the show. Without any hesitation, Bryan leaned in to kiss Mrs Dreyfus, sending the crowds into a frenzy. After their kiss, Mrs Dreyfus said,

"Yeah he was on Seinfeld."

She later confirmed that the stint was pre-planned, and her husband agreed. In an interview with Elle, She said she wouldn't kiss any other former co-star and that Bryan was an exception.

---

Winners of Primetime Emmy Creative Arts

Ed Sheeran won his first Emmy at the Primetime Emmys for Creative Arts for the song A Beautiful Mind he wrote alongside Max Martin and Joy Vance, the co-winners of the award. His award was in the Original Music and Lyrics category for the AppleTV show Ted Lasso, which also won Guest Actor for a Comedy series.

The major win came from the second-largest nominated show, The Last of Us, which bagged eight awards, including a Main Title Design, Guest Actor & Guest Actress. Barack Obama also won the Emmy in the Outstanding Narration category.

Other big wins were the docuseries Welcome to Wrexham, which won the Unstructured Reality Program. Netflix's Wednesday took home Main Title Theme Music, the animated series Big Mouth won Character Voice-over, the Television Movie was given to Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, and 1619 Project bagged the Documentary/Non-fiction Award.

---

Primetime Emmys this year marked the harmonious end to the actors' and writers' strike that caused the award show a delay from its initial release in September 2023. The main Primetime Emmys airs on FOX on January 15, 2024, at 8 pm ET.