The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards aired on Sunday, Sept. 19, honoring the best recent US prime time television programs. With fan favorites like The Queen’s Gambit, WandaVision, Ted Lasso, and others, the competition this year was intense.
The big winner of the evening was Netflix’s The Crown, winning Outstanding Drama Series and bringing home 7 awards. Apple TV+ also earned 4 awards for Ted Lasso, including the award for Outstanding Comedy Series. The Handmaid’s Tale did not bring home any awards despite receiving a whopping 11 nominations, leaving fans disappointed with the Emmy Awards.
The disappointment surrounding The Handmaid’s Tale was not the only controversy of the evening. Seth Rogen, known for his acting performances in Superbad and Freaks and Geeks, gave a speech condemning the Emmy Awards for allowing so many people to gather indoors. Additionally, the hashtag #emmyssowhite began trending about halfway through the award show. The Emmy Awards have received some backlash on Twitter and in the news for giving all major acting trophies to white actors, highlighting a structural issue within the industry.
What has the conversation been like on social media? At the Social Media Listening Center, we used a search for keywords like “Emmys,” “#Emmys2021,” and “The Emmys.” While this search may not be fully extensive, it provides a glimpse into the online conversation.
By Sept. 20 at 11:59 pm, the search found 1,867,938 tweets discussing the topic. The overall sentiment of this search was 86% positive and 14% negative. It’s likely that some of the negative sentiment surrounding this topic stems from the evening’s controversies. To get a better look at the conversation and the sentiment surrounding this topic, we paid close attention to the word cloud capturing the most common words and phrases associated with this search:
To gain even further understanding of the sentiment surrounding this news, we looked at the most commonly used hashtags related to this search. We found that #emmys, #emmys2021, #tedlasso, and #emmytnt are at the top. When searching the keyword “#Emmys2021,” we found that some of the top themes of discussion were “Ted Lasso,” “Red Carpet,” and “Elizabeth Olsen.”
Who is engaging in this conversation? We found that the majority of mentions surrounding this topic are from female Twitter users in the 18-35 age demographic in the United States. The top influencers on Twitter are primarily entertainment channels such as Entertainment Weekly and Good Morning America. Gillian Anderson, who was nominated for her performance as Margaret Thatcher on The Crown, is a top influencer as well.
#TedLasso wins Outstanding Comedy Series! #Emmys pic.twitter.com/UHrpCHGgK7
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) September 20, 2021
Huge thanks to all who put me together! 💃🏼
Dress: @chloefashion @gabrielahearst
Stylist: @marthaward2
Hair: @JamesRoweHair
Makeup: Amanda Grossman
Nails: Jessica Thompson📷 @ZOEMCCONNELL pic.twitter.com/QebGHAn1oO
— Gillian Anderson (@GillianA) September 20, 2021
The keyword search also revealed that Instagram users are engaging in this conversation as well. Over 13,000+ Instagram posts were made featuring red carpet looks and highlights from the evening with the hashtags #emmys and #emmys2021. Fans of Ted Lasso and The Crown were especially engaged in the conversation on Instagram.
Unsurprisingly, the volume trend of the conversation has steadily declined since the award show ended. Although the Emmy Awards may be over for another year, we’ll likely continue to hear more about the lack of diversity that comes with Hollywood award shows, and hopefully hear calls for structural change. In the meantime, we’ll continue monitoring this topic and others from the Social Media Listening Center.
Author: Kendall Phillips
