Nate Bargatze is defending the charity bit he implemented at the 2025 Emmys to keep speeches at a minimum despite receiving flak from critics.
The comedian got backlash over a bit at the award ceremony where he promised to donate $100,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of America. However, the money pot would diminish for every speech that went over the 45-second allotted time for the Emmy recipients. An on-screen ticker appeared during the speeches, showing how the total sum decreased as the award winners exceeded their time.
“A lot of reviews did not like that, but it came from a real place of heart,” Bargatze said on the new episode of the Nateland podcast. “Everybody at home loved it. It was fun and entertaining to see money go down and all that. I wasn’t trying to put anyone on the spot or make someone donate money. In my head I thought, ‘Make it fun.’ We’re not using the charity as a tool.”
The stand-up comic said he “wasn’t trying to overshadow any of their speeches,” adding, “What I thought would happen in the room… I thought it was going to be like Netflix donating or Apple. I did not expect [15-year-old Adolescence winner Owen Cooper] to give money.”
He continued, “In my head, I pictured it as [actors] could then go long but then be a hero. So it was like a win-win. Then the night becomes about love and giving to these kids that are there and all this kind of stuff. I don’t know if I just didn’t explain it enough in the room. There was no ill will. I was trying to have a very giving night. I thought if people were giving long speeches they’d be like, ‘Netflix is going to cover it.’ I could’ve explained it more.”
At the end of the award ceremony, Bargatze announced that the number was so “embarrassing,” CBS donated $100,000, and he donated $250,000 for a total of $350,000.
The Emmys reached a 4-year viewership high with Bargatze as host, drawing in 7.42 million viewers across CBS and Paramount+, marking a four-year viewership high, according to early Nielsen data. It was up 8% from the 76th iteration on ABC last year.
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