NEWSSeth Rogen Calls Out 'Insane' 2021 Emmy Awards As COVID-19 Pandemic Rages On: 'There's Way Too Many Of Us In This Little Room'
No laughing matter. Some of the jokes Seth Rogen made during the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards seemed to be rooted in truth.
The 39-year-old was the first to present an award during the in-person ceremony on Sunday, September 19. “Good to be here at the Emmy Awards,” the Pineapple Express actor began. “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 — looking visibly concerned — said. "They lied to us. We’re in a hermetically-sealed tent right now.”
“I would not have come to this. Why is there a roof?” he continued. “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.”
“This is insane,” Rogen stated. “I went from wiping my groceries to having Paul Bettany sneeze in my face, so, that’s a big week. If anyone’s gonna sneeze in my face, Paul, I want it to be you."
“Um, alright, that’s all the jokes I wrote,” he quipped before announcing that Ted Lasso’s Hannah Waddingham had won the award for Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series.
It appears some viewers watching from home were thinking the same thing. “Is COVID afraid [sic] of tents?" one Twitter user wrote. "As #SethRogen noted at these @Emmys, 'there are way too many of us in this room.'"
“I was hoping for a better example to be set. At least Seth stated the hypocrisy,” another tweeted, while another deadpanned, “Hey man what the hell, you nailed it. Room small no masks…covid superspreader.”
Rogen wasn't the only celebrity to touch on the ongoing pandemic. Host Cedric the Entertainer opened up the annual award show by announcing he was vaccinated and joking, "I did not have a reaction like Nicki Minaj's cousin's friend, OK?" — a nod to the controversial comments the rapper previously made.
"I got Pfizer, you know what I'm saying? Because I'm bougie, alright?" he continued. "Pfizer, that's the Neiman Marcus of vaccines, you know what I mean? Moderna, that's Macy's and then Johnson and Johnson, that's TJ Maxx of course."
In August, the The Television Academy announced that all attendees would be required to show proof of vaccination and test negative for COVID-19, per Hollywood Reporter. Last year's show — hosted by Jimmy Kimmel — was virtual.
