The 2020 Emmy Awards

By Lisa Respers France, Marianne Garvey and Veronica Rocha, CNN

Updated 6:01 AM ET, Mon September 21, 2020
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8:00 p.m. ET, September 20, 2020

The 72nd Primetime Emmys has started

The Emmys has started tonight and host Jimmy Kimmel has taken the stage live from the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

Remember: The Emmys will be staged virtually, with nominees staying home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Producers dispatched 130 cameras into the field to capture the action.

8:00 p.m. ET, September 20, 2020

Schitt's Creek cast reunites in person to celebrate Emmy nominations

From CNN's Marianne Garvey

The beloved cast of "Schitt's Creek" has managed to pull off a reunion for the 2020 Emmys.

The show's official Instagram posted an announcement along with a series of pictures of the cast all dressed up in front of a wall of flowers.

"Tonight, some #SchittsCreek cast and nominated team members have been able to gather for an #Emmys event in Toronto, adhering to Ontario’s COVID-19 guidelines. All in attendance have been in isolation since returning negative COVID-19 tests. Good luck, team!"

Show creator and star Dan Levy

Annie Murphy

The great Catherine O'Hara

Eugene Levy

7:57 p.m. ET, September 20, 2020

Jessica Biel reminisces about getting dressed up and attending the Emmys in person

From CNN's Marianne Garvey

Jessica Biel took to Instagram with a throwback to the 2018 Emmys, when she and husband Justin Timberlake — along with all the other stars — actually attended in person. 

That year, Biel was nominated for "The Sinner," and captioned a shot of the couple holding hands: “Once upon a time, a long LONG time ago … Mom and Dad put on some real clothes and stayed out past midnight."

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, host Jimmy Kimmel will host to, well, pretty much no one at the Staples Center in Los Angeles tonight.

The nominees will be watching and accepting their awards from home.

7:54 p.m. ET, September 20, 2020

How stars reacted when their nominations were announced

From CNN's Chloe Melas

The Emmy Award nominations were announced virtually this summer by Leslie Jones, Laverne Cox, Josh Gad and Tatiana Maslany.

Here's how some of the nominees reacted:

Uzo Aduba, supporting actress, limited series or a movie for "Mrs. America":

"I am grateful to be nominated for my work in Mrs. America, and for the life of someone as remarkable as Shirley Chisholm to have been seen. This spot of sunshine, during a time of unequal measure, means so much today, and to share the nomination with my fellow cast mates is just icing on an already well frosted cake. Thank you, Academy!"

Rachel Brosnahan, outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel":

Tituss Burgess, outstanding supporting actor in a limited series or movie for "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt":

"This one strikes differently. It's been a rough year for all of us. This honor is about more than acknowledgement. It's about motivation to be my most authentic self so I can create authentic work. This news has lifted me in ways I did not anticipate! Much love and gratitude to the Academy and my Kimmy family."

Kerry Washington, producer and outstanding lead actress in a limited series or movie for "Little Fires Everywhere," outstanding variety special for "Live In Front of a Studio Audience" and outstanding television movie for "American Son":

"To be recognized in this way this morning is such an honor — but to be able to share it with my partner Pilar Savone and our Simpson Street family makes it even more meaningful. The experiences we've been able to have this year were beyond our wildest dreams: working with the legendary Norman Lear and Jimmy Kimmel to bring iconic shows from the 70s to new audiences with Live In Front of a Studio Audience, to adapting AMERICAN SON, a Broadway play about Black lives and police violence to Netflix, to bringing Celeste Ng's beautiful novel Little Fires Everywhere to life with my incredible friends Reese Witherspoon, Lauren Neustadter and Liz Tigelaar. But the tears came this morning when I heard about Lynn Shelton's nomination for Little Fires Everywhere. I'm so incredibly grateful that the Television Academy has chosen to honor Lynn with this very deserved nomination. I know she's celebrating in the beyond."

Sterling K. Brown, lead actor in a drama for "This is Us" and supporting actor in a comedy for "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel":

Billy Porter, outstanding lead actor in a drama series, "Pose":

"It's blessing and a gift to be part of this moment where my art and my activism meet. POSE represents hope and is a reminder of how powerful 'we-the-people' are!"

CNN's Sandra Gonzalez, Marianne Garvey and Lisa France contributed to this report. 

7:50 p.m. ET, September 20, 2020

Jasmine Cephas Jones and dad Ron make history

From CNN's Lisa Respers France

Jasmine Cephas Jones and Ron Cephas Jones attends the "Head Of Passes" opening night celebration at The Public Theater on March 28, 2016 in New York City.
Jasmine Cephas Jones and Ron Cephas Jones attends the "Head Of Passes" opening night celebration at The Public Theater on March 28, 2016 in New York City. Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

Jasmine Cephas Jones has followed in the footsteps of her actor father, Ron Cephas Jones, and in the process made some Emmys history.

They became the first father-daughter pair to win Emmys in the same year.

She won for outstanding actress in a short form comedy or drama series for her performance in the Quibi series "#FreeRayshawn" while he won for his guest starring role on "This Is Us."

It was the first Emmy for the "Hamilton" actress and the second for her dad via his "This Is Us" work.

“As a parent that’s the most fulfilling that I could ever feel at the moment," Deadline reported Ron Cephas Jones saying after his win. "Winning another Emmy is the icing on the cake, but to see my daughter progress and move into this place where she’s earned an Emmy is beyond words and I tear up every time I think about it to be honest with you. To see my daughter become healthy and happy, that’s a parent’s dream.”

In an interview with CNN prior to her win, Jasmine Cephas Jones spoke with pride about her father.

"One of the reasons why I'm acting is because of him and he's taught me a lot," she said. "He's a great dad, but he's also a great mentor and to be able to have this moment it's like full circle for me."

7:46 p.m. ET, September 20, 2020

Emmy nominations deliver more diversity — but not everyone is happy

From CNN's Lisa Respers France

The Emmy Awards delivered more diversity among the nominees. But there has been some backlash over the nominations falling short on representation.

Some on social media complained that while Billy Porter, who is Black, was nominated for lead actor in a drama series for "Pose," none of the central trans actors on the show received a nod.

In the acting categories, 33% of the nominees are Black, compared with 14% the five years prior, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times

Their analysis found that performers of color made up 37% of the total of nominations overall, which is 6% more than in any of the past five years.

While "Ramy" became the first Muslim American sitcom to score a nomination with co-creator and star Ramy Youssef earning noms for outstanding lead actor and outstanding directing in a comedy series, there was less to celebrate for other minorities.

Asian artists were not well represented, despite the third consecutive Emmy nomination for Sandra Oh in the lead actress in a drama series category for "Killing Eve."

Oh made history in 2018 as the first woman of Asian descent to be nominated in a lead actress category.

The lack of Latinx representation — most notably EGOT winner Rita Moreno for her work in the comedy "One Day At a Time" — led Daily Beast writer Laura Bradley to highlight that "Tuesday's Emmy nominations included only one Latinx actor, Outstanding Guest in a Drama Series nominee Alexis Bledel."

Here's a list of some of the nominees:

Outstanding lead actor in a limited series or TV movie

  • Jeremy Irons ("Watchmen")
  • Hugh Jackman ("Bad Education")
  • Paul Mescal ("Normal People")
  • Jeremy Pope ("Hollywood")
  • Mark Ruffalo ("I Know This Much Is True")

Outstanding lead actress in a limited series or TV movie

  • Cate Blanchett ("Mrs. America")
  • Shira Haas ("Unorthodox")
  • Regina King ("Watchmen")
  • Octavia Spencer ("Self Made")
  • Kerry Washington ("Little Fires Everywhere")

Outstanding lead actor in a comedy series

  • Anthony Anderson ("Black-ish")
  • Don Cheadle ("Black Monday")
  • Ted Danson ("The Good Place")
  • Michael Douglas ("The Kominsky Method")
  • Eugene Levy ("Schitt's Creek")
  • Ramy Youssef ("Ramy")

Outstanding lead actress in a comedy series

  • Christina Applegate ("Dead to Me")
  • Rachel Brosnahan ("The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel")
  • Linda Cardellini ("Dead to Me")
  • Catherine O'Hara ("Schitt's Creek")
  • Issa Rae ("Insecure")
  • Tracee Ellis Ross ("Black-ish")

Outstanding lead actor in a drama series

  • Jason Bateman ("Ozark")
  • Sterling K. Brown ("This Is Us")
  • Steve Carell ("The Morning Show")
  • Brian Cox ("Succession")
  • Billy Porter ("Pose")
  • Jeremy Strong ("Succession")

Outstanding lead actress in a drama series

  • Jennifer Aniston ("The Morning Show")
  • Olivia Colman ("The Crown")
  • Jodie Comer ("Killing Eve")
  • Laura Linney ("Ozark")
  • Sandra Oh ("Killing Eve")
  • Zendaya ("Euphoria")

7:40 p.m. ET, September 20, 2020

"Ramy" is the first Muslim American sitcom to score an Emmy nomination

From CNN's Nadeem Muaddi

"Ramy" is the first Muslim American sitcom to receive an Emmy nomination.

Ramy Youssef, the show's co-creator and star, was nominated for outstanding lead actor and outstanding directing in a comedy series. Co-star Mahershala Ali earned a nod for his season two supporting role.

In the show, Ramy Hassan (Youssef), a first-generation Egyptian American, struggles to balance his cultural and religious values alongside his American millennial ways. "Ramy" celebrates the Muslim faith while laying bare a host of community issues.

Although "Ramy" focuses on a Muslim American character, the show found a wide audience with millennials of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds who could relate to the character's anxiety over his romantic life, career aspirations and overbearing parents.

In January, Youssef won a Golden Globe for best performance by an actor in a television series.

7:32 p.m. ET, September 20, 2020

Jennifer Aniston sends Emmy love from home in a robe

From CNN's Marianne Garvey

Jennifer Aniston is using Emmys prep time for some self care. 

"The Morning Show" star took to Instagram to show off her majorly comfortable pajamas with matching robe. She completed her relaxed look with a rubber band on her wrist and a face mask — the relaxing kind. 

"Emmys prep... in my other mask," she wrote. "Congratulations to the nominees and all of the amazing performances we’ve seen this year."

Her "Morning" co-star Mark Duplass commented, "My dude! Lookin great."

Earlier he was interviewed by "E! Live From the Red Carpet" rocking his own pajama shirt under a tuxedo jacket. 

Hopefully we'll see some acceptance speeches straight from bed.

7:24 p.m. ET, September 20, 2020

These shows are nominated tonight

From CNN's Lisa Respers France

Nominations for the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards include a diverse mix of shows, including "The Mandalorian," "Insecure" and "Schitt's Creek."

Netflix dominated with 160 nominations, as new services like Disney+, Apple TV+ also made their mark.

Here's a list of tonight's nominations:

Outstanding comedy series

  • "Curb Your Enthusiasm"
  • "Dead to Me"
  • "The Good Place"
  • "Insecure"
  • "The Kominsky Method"
  • "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"
  • "Schitt's Creek"
  • "What We Do in the Shadows"

Outstanding drama series

  • "Better Call Saul"
  • "The Crown"
  • "The Handmaid's Tale"
  • "Killing Eve"
  • "The Mandalorian"
  • "Ozark"
  • "Stranger Things"
  • "Succession

Outstanding limited Series

  • "Little Fires Everywhere"
  • "Mrs. America"
  • "Unbelievable"
  • "Unorthodox"
  • "Watchmen"

Outstanding reality/competition series

  • "The Masked Singer"
  • "Nailed It"
  • "RuPaul's Drag Race"
  • "Top Chef"
  • "The Voice"

Outstanding variety talk series

  • "Daily Show with Trevor Noah"
  • "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee"
  • "Jimmy Kimmel Live"
  • "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver"
  • "Late Show with Stephen Colbert"