The 75th Annual Emmy Awards will not air in September as originally planned, due to the SAG-AFTRA strike that began earlier this month, in tandem with months-long picketing by the Writers Guild of America.
The ceremony, honoring the best television has to offer, will no longer take place on Sept. 18 and has not yet committed to a new date, sources told Entertainment Tonight.
The change comes two weeks after SAG-AFTRA announced their strike, following the breakdown of contract negotiations between the actors’ union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios and streamers.
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The nominations for this year’s Emmys were announced just two days prior to the July 14 commencement of the strike, which has — along with that of the writers — effectively shut down Hollywood.
According to union leadership, the strike was initiated as “an instrument of last resort” after weeks of negotiations that didn’t get to the core of protecting its estimated 160,000 members — ranging from actors and stunt doubles to hosts and beyond.
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Similarly to the Writers Guild of America, which started striking in early May, SAG-AFTRA is seeking better wages, working conditions and protections in the face of new technology such as streaming and artificial intelligence.
“What is happening to us is happening across all fields of labor by means of when employers make Wall Street and greed their priority and they forget about the essential contributors that make the machine run,” said SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher upon announcing the strike. “They stand on the wrong side of history at this very moment.”
Noting that the union “had no choice,” the “Nanny” star, 65, said SAG-AFTRA members “are the victims here. We are being victimized by a very greedy entity.”
The strike forces the majority of members to not just stop performing and filming but to stop promoting projects in the form of social media posts, press junkets and more.