Jimmy Kimmel hosting the Emmys, first major awards show amid the pandemic

Just how the Emmy Awards will be held remains cloudy. Kimmel, who is also producing the Sept. 20 ceremony on ABC, acknowledged that quandary in Tuesday’s announcement.

SHARE Jimmy Kimmel hosting the Emmys, first major awards show amid the pandemic
Jimmy Kimmel poses for a photo with a replica of an Emmy statue at the Primetime Emmy Awards Press Preview Day in Los Angeles in 2016.

Jimmy Kimmel poses for a photo with a replica of an Emmy statue at the primetime Emmy Awards press preview day in Los Angeles in 2016.

Rich Fury/Invision/AP

LOS ANGELES — Jimmy Kimmel will host the first major Hollywood awards ceremony of the coronavirus pandemic — but just how the Emmy Awards will be held remains cloudy.

Kimmel, who is also producing the Sept. 20 ceremony on ABC honoring TV’s best, acknowledged that in Tuesday’s announcement.

“I don’t know where we will do this or how we will do this or even why we are doing this, but we are doing it and I am hosting it,” the ABC late-night host said in a statement.

The network said details on the show’s production will be announced soon. Choosing Kimmel to emcee the ceremony reverses course from last year’s no-host Emmys.

The entertainment industry is just beginning to restart production following a months-long shutdown aimed at curtailing the spread of COVID-19. Orchestrating an awards ceremony during the ongoing pandemic with its crowd of presenters, nominees and guests is a daunting prospect, whether done virtually or otherwise.

Nominations for the 72nd prime-time Emmys will be announced by the TV academy on July 28.

The Latest
Francis Martinez, 18, of Des Plaines, and Wolfgang Gustaveson, 19, of Park Ridge, were killed when their truck collided with another truck, Carbondale police said.
The fire is under investigation, but the 131-year-old home’s survival could rest with the results of a structural report now being prepared by city building inspectors.
The Rev. Robert Dowd will take over July 1. He succeeds the Rev. John Jenkins, who led the university for 19 years.
Moog had served as CEO since 2020, overseeing the merger of the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ, creating the largest local nonprofit news organization in the country.
Mohammed K. Al Hijoj, 39, was on the job carrying four passengers when he was shot in the 1700 block of North Lotus Street on Sunday, officials said. The passengers fled.