At this year’s Emmys, comedy and politics took center stage. While Stephen Colbert and Hannah Einbinder won in different categories, what united them was their political stance.
Colbert, won the Emmy for The Late Show, and celebrated the achievement with heartfelt gratitude before getting back into his character and mock Trump. The late-night host thanked nearly 200 people who help put the broadcast together every day. Then, with his signature smile, he aimed a shot at one of his harshest critics.
“Speaking of Emmys, Donald Trump doesn’t have one,” Colbert quipped, drawing immediate cheers from the audience. For years, the President has carried a public grudge against the awards and Hollywood in general.
It should be noted here that Trump and Colbert have an ongoing feud and the President was allegedly the reason behind Colbert’s show getting canceled by CBS. Trump was also quite happy when the show was canceled and said, “I absolutely love that Colbert was fired.”
Colbert’s reply came soon and swiftly as he said it was his dream to watch an active President celebrate the end of his career. He also added, “They’re pointing out that last Monday, just two days before my cancelation, I delivered a blistering monologue in which I showed the courage to have a moustache.”
Besides his issue with Colbert, Trump has also repeatedly taken issue with ceremonies that mocked him, often blasting them as unfair or political. He’s been especially pointed about the Emmys’ refusal to reward his NBC reality series, The Apprentice.
In past comments, he has insisted the show should have been honored “many times over,” complained that he was “screwed” by the voting process, and argued that the ceremony has “no credibility.”
Colbert clearly didn’t mind reminding viewers of those longtime grievances. For him, it was just the latest way to balance celebration with satire, even at an awards show. Yet politics at the Emmys that night went far beyond the world of Trump and into calls for justice abroad.
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Hannah Einbinder, who stars in HBO’s Hacks, made her own mark at the ceremony when she won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. After years of being nominated without a win, she began her speech with playful self-deprecation. Einbinder joked that she had convinced herself it was “cool” to keep losing.
Then she turned serious. Wearing an Artists4Ceasefire pin, she ended her remarks with words that brought gasps and cheers: “Finally, I just want to say: Go Birds, [expletive] ICE, and free Palestine.” The “Birds” reference, as was evident, was a nod to the Philadelphia Eagles, who had defeated the Kansas City Chiefs earlier on Sunday.
Heartfelt compassion, empathy, and sensitivity from Stephen Colbert, while Donald Trump made accusations and threats. pic.twitter.com/ryuuuIzvdL
— The poorly educated support him! (@Youtalkingtume) September 11, 2025
For viewers at home, though, not every word made it through. CBS and Paramount+ censored the profanity, cutting away to a wide crowd shot before returning just in time to catch her finish with “ICE.”
Backstage, Einbinder talked more about what she said. “It’s an issue that’s very close to my heart for many reasons,” she told reporters. She went on, “It is my obligation as a Jewish person to distinguish Jews from the state of Israel, because our religion and our culture is such an important and long-standing institution that is really separate to this sort of ethnonationalist state.”
Both Colbert and Einbinder using their wins to get all political will be adding to the long list of reasons for which Trump hates these shows. It now remains to be seen how the President responds and if he has anything specific to say in regards to the comment that Einbinder made about ICE.
