The fifth and final installment of the 2020 Creative Arts Emmys ran into a little snafu Saturday night when announcing the winner of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
When it came time to reveal the winner in the category, a voiceover announced nominee Jason Bateman’s name for his guest role in “The Outsider,” but the FXX presentation simultanously posted Ron Cephas Jones’ title card for “This Is Us.” Viewers — and reporters, like us — were left wondering who really won.
The answer is Cephas Jones, and the broadcast corrected the mistake a few minutes later. A spokesperson for the Emmys clarified in a statement to reporters that the error was due to an “editing issue,” and that Cephas Jones is indisputably the winner.
“They announced the correct winner and it was the correct slate, but the voiceover was incorrect,” the spokesperson added.
We’re not sure about that whole “announced the correct winner” thing, but OK.
The official Television Academy Twitter account also confirmed the win for Cephas Jones.
“The winner for Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series is Ron Cephas Jones!” the account wrote. “This #Emmy win is his second for his role on @NBCThisisUs.”
The flub was reminiscent of the famous Oscars mistake of 2017 in which “La La Land” was announced as the winner for Best Picture when in fact the award was meant to go to “Moonlight.” Admittedly, the stakes were a bit lower tonight.
Don’t tell that to some passionate — and confused — viewers.
“WHAT JUST HAPPENED @TheEmmys?! Who won Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series?” one user tweeted. “The screen showed Ron Cephas Jones but the announcer said Jason Bateman…and then the screen cut to a quiz question?! Honestly, you HAVE to pull it together.”
“I can’t believe it’s taking the Television Academy this long to clear up whether Ron Cephas Jones or Jason Bateman won. It didn’t take the Oscars this long to clear up the Moonlight/La La Land mixup,” wrote another.
Cephas Jones’ win comes two days after his daughter, Jasmine Cephas Jones, won the Short Form Acting category for Quibi’s “#FreeRayshawn.” This marks the first father-daughter win in the same year in the history of the Emmys.
Ron Cephas Jones seemed unfazed by the mix-up, telling reporters in a post-win interview how proud he is of his daughter.
“As a parent, nothing could be finer. Nothing,” he said.
Cephas Jones added that his daughter is with her fiancee in New York right now while he is in Los Angeles, so for now they’ll have to celebrate together over Zoom.
The winner for Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series is Ron Cephas Jones! This #Emmy win is his second for his role on @NBCThisisUs! pic.twitter.com/LhX54jUxRM
— Television Academy (@TelevisionAcad) September 20, 2020