The 2023 Emmy Awards ceremony has been postponed to January 15, 2024. It was slated to take place in September. The Television Academy disclosed the development Thursday alongside their televising partner, Fox. In the official press release announcing the postponement, the Academy did not give a reason for the postponement. However, it is pretty clear that the live show would be empty of key industry players, actors, writers and other creatives who are currently on strike. According to The Verge, “The rules of the strike prevent unionized writers and actors from accepting awards for struck work and also bars them from attending events that promote it.”
A handful of Black women were nominated for Emmy Awards in 2023, including Janelle James, Taraji P. Henson, and others.
A First In Years
This is the first time in 20 years that the Emmy Awards is experiencing a delay. Its last known delay in 2001 was due to the September 11 attacks.
Variety reported in July that Emmy vendors were being notified that the awards ceremony would be moved to a different date.
“Like the rest of the industry, we hope there will be an equitable and timely resolution for all parties in the current guild negotiations,” a statement from the TV Academy on the situation revealed. “We continue to monitor the situation closely with our partners at Fox and will advise if and when there is an update available.”
The ongoing strike has seen numerous productions closed down, while the livelihood of working actors and writers have been affected. The Writer’s Guild of America has been striking for more than 100 days now. The writers were joined by working actors in July but the concerted efforts has yet to result in an amicable deal between the unions and the studios they are striking against.
Last week, it was reported that the WGA had a sit down, the first in months, with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to revisit their demands. The meeting ended without an agreement. The WGA said that the studio executives were unwilling to discuss the demands around preserving writers rooms and residuals. They were however open to discussing the use of AI.