Emmy Awards 2026 live: Hacks star Jean Smart makes history as Mariska Hargitay hosts

Summary

Law & Order star Mariska Hargitay hosts TV's biggest night, the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, and opens the show with a celebrity-filled musical number
Stars including Zendaya and Nicole Kidman to Colman Domingo and Matthew Rhys turn heads on the red carpet at the Peacock Theater in Downtown Los Angeles. See all the looks here
Leading the pack in nominations is medical drama The Pitt, which is up for 25 awards - read more about the show here
Following close behind is the comedy series Hacks, while newcomer Widow's Bay has clocked 19 nods - check out the other Emmy nominees here
Some of the British stars in the running tonight include Matthew Rhys (nominated twice), Riz Ahmed, Carey Mulligan, Gary Oldman and Rufus Sewell

Live Reporting

Edited by Oliver O'Connell with Nardine Saad, Regan Morris and David Willis reporting from Los Angeles

Allison Janney wins for The Diplomatpublished at 01:27 BST
Image source, NBC via Getty Images
Allison Janney wins for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series for The Diplomat.
The nominations included:
- Taylor Dearden as Dr Mel King (The Pitt)
- Fiona Dourif as Dr Cassie McKay (The Pitt)
- Allison Janney as President Grace Penn (The Diplomat) - winner
- Katherine LaNasa as Charge Nurse Dana Evans (The Pitt)
- Sepideh Moafi as Dr Baran Al-Hashimi (The Pitt)
- Julianne Nicholson as Sinatra (Paradise)
- Karolina Wydra as Zosia (Pluribus)
"The seven women who were nominated for this award were fantastic and spectacular," she says, having looked visibly shocked and surprised when her name was read out.
She was presented the award by Alan Cumming and Emmy Rossum.
Rhys wins for The Beast in Mepublished at 01:23 BST
Image source, Getty Images
Welsh actor Matthew Rhys wins best lead actor in a limited or anthology series or movie for his role in Netflix's The Beast in Me.
The nominations included:
- Riz Ahmed - Bait (Prime Video)
- Jason Bateman - Black Rabbit (Netflix)
- Charlie Hunnam - Monster: The Ed Gein Story (Netflix)
- Oscar Isaac - Beef (Netflix)
- Matthew Rhys - The Beast In Me (Netflix) - winner
"This is a real shock because, not least because the calibre and company of the actors in this category," Rhys says in his acceptance speech.
He was presented the award by Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanz of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame.

Jean Smart takes win for Hackspublished at 01:16 BST
Image source, Getty Images
Jean Smart wins best lead actress in a comedy series for her role portraying Deborah Vance in HBO's Hacks.
She was presented the award by Zendaya.
The nominations included:
- Quinta Brunson - Abbott Elementary (ABC)
- Ayo Edebiri - The Bear (FX/Hulu)
- Elle Fanning - Margo's Got Money Troubles (Apple TV)
- Lisa Kudrow - The Comeback (HBO Max)
- Jean Smart - Hacks (HBO Max) - winner
Kate O'Flynn on accepting supporting actress Emmypublished at 01:13 BST
British actress Kate O'Flynn accepts her award saying: "Thank you for trusting this Lancashire Lass for playing a sassy broad like Patricia."
Image source, Getty Images

Kate O'Flynn wins for Widow's Baypublished at 01:12 BST
British actress Kate O'Flynn wins for best supporting actress in a comedy series for Apple TV's Widow's Bay.
Comedy legend Amy Poehler presented her with the award.
The nominations included:
- Dale Dickey - Widow's Bay (Apple TV)
- Hannah Einbinder - Hacks (HBO Max)
- Janelle James - Abbott Elementary (ABC)
- Kate O'Flynn - Widow's Bay (Apple TV) - winner
- Michelle Pfeiffer - Margo's Got Money Troubles (Apple TV)
- Megan Stalter - Hacks (HBO Max)
- Jessica Williams - Shrinking (Apple TV)
First woman to host Emmys in 15 yearspublished at 01:10 BST
Mariska Hargitay points out that she is the first woman to host the Emmys in 15 years.
"NBC is celebrating its hundredth year," Hargitay says, "and I have been on 'Law and Order: SVU' for all of them!"
Hargitay has starred in Law & Order SVU for decades and tonight she jokes she doesn't understand the word "finale" as the series appears to be running forever.
She then parodies Nicole Kidman's famous AMC movie theatre ads with Kidman playing along by protesting.

Mariska Hargitay opens the show singing 'I love TV screens'published at 01:06 BST
Image source, Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Host Mariska Hargitay opens the show with a musical number based on Joan Jett and the Blackheart's I Love Rock & Roll.
New York Knicks Jalen Brunson makes a cameo - Hargitay is a big Knicks fan.
She is name checking many of the shows and stars of the night, while singing "I love TV screens".
That's it for the red - or in this case, blue - carpet, now on with the showpublished at 00:59 BST 15 September
After that flurry of entrances from TV's best and brightest, it's now on with the show at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
Host Mariska Hargitay will be taking to the stage shortly and we'll bring you all the awards and other highlights as the night goes on.
Stick with us!

Stars stream in up until the last minutepublished at 00:59 BST 15 September
It's almost show time and the stars are still streaming in.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Allison Janney is nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series for her role as President Grace Penn in The Diplomat.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Stephen Colbert and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert received nine nominations.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Jason Bateman is nominated for four awards tonight.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Jack Lowden is nominated for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series for his role in the Apple TV+ series Slow Horses.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Hannah Einbinder is nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for her role as Ava Daniels in Hacks.
By the numbers: This year's most-watched showspublished at 00:55 BST 15 September
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Audiences clocked more than 130 million hours of the HBO drama The Gilded Age between June 2025 and May 2026
The Primetime Emmy Awards are voted on by active members the Television Academy, which is made up of more than 27,000 professionals (including actors, directors and writers).
Their opinion doesn't always indicate how popular a series is with viewers, but this year data from Nielsen, the company relied on for decades to measure television audiences, show that many of tonight's nominees were also the most watched programmes within the Emmy eligibility window.
Drama series:
1. The Pitt: Not only leading in nominations this year, the medical drama was viewed for about 400 million hours between 1 June 2025 and 31 May 2026
2. The Gilded Age: The HBO drama finished at number two with 131.5 million viewing hours
3. The Diplomat: The Netflix series starring Keri Russell came in at number three, with 102 million viewing hours
Comedy series:
1. Abbott Elementary: The ABC comedy once again outranked all other comedy series, garnering 181 million viewing hours
2. Shrinking: Apple TV's fan favourite clocked just a little more than half that, with 99.8 million viewing hours
3. Only Murders in the Building: And just behind Shrinking was Hulu's murder-mystery-comedy series, which came in at 99.3 million hours
Limited series: The Beast in Me
Netflix continues to dominate the limited series category when it comes to viewing hours, as its psychological thriller clocked 123.1 million viewing hours, outpacing Peacock's All Her Fault by a landslide (73.4 million).
*This data can include previous seasons of a show.

Zendaya, Nicole Kidman, and other stars make their entrancespublished at 00:46 BST 15 September
Some of Hollywood's biggest stars, including Zendaya and Nicole Kidman, have made their entrances. Both actresses are nominated for Emmy awards tonight.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Zendaya is nominated for outstanding lead actress in a drama series for Euphoria.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Nicole Kidman is nominated tonight as an executive producer for the Apple TV+ series Margo's Got Money Troubles.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Shailene Woodley won her first-ever Emmy this year for her role in the Hulu series Paradise.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Michael J. Fox, pictured next to spouse and actress Tracy Pollan, is nominated for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series category for his role in Shrinking.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Rufus Sewell is nominated for outstanding lead actor in a drama series for his role as Hal Wyler in Netflix's political drama The Diplomat.
Nominees, presenters and other stars walk the blue carpetpublished at 00:44 BST 15 September
Emmy-nominated stars are arriving alongside actors who will be presenting at this evening's ceremony, including Sarah Michelle Gellar and LL Cool J.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Emmy Rossum, who stars in Hulu's Furious, is presenting at tonight's ceremony
Image source, Variety via Getty Images
Image caption,
Elle Fanning is nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in Apple TV's Margo's Got Money Troubles
Image source, AFP via Getty Images
Image caption,
Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz, who starred in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, will be presenting tonight.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Kaley Cuoco, who stars in MGM's Vanished, arrives with her partner Tom Pelphrey, who is nominated for his role in HBO's Task
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
LL Cool J, star of NCIS: New York, will be presenting tonight

The Pitt star Noah Wyle arrives for what could be a big nightpublished at 00:37 BST 15 September
All eyes will be on Noah Wyle and the rest of the cast and crew of The Pitt, the smash-hit medical drama that has 25 nominations, tonight.
Wyle, who is nominated in acting and producing categories, took home an Emmy last year for his portrayal of Dr Michael "Robby" Robinavitch. While he was nominated for his earlier work on another medical drama, ER, he never won an Emmy during his run on that series.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Actor Noah Wyle of The Pitt and his wife Sara Wells, who is also an actor and has appeared in the hit medical drama
Will Colbert be recognised for his last season of The Late Show?published at 00:33 BST 15 September
Nardine Saad
at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Stephen Colbert on the set of his CBS series The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
The Late Show went off the air in May, ending the late-night chat show's 33-year run on CBS, as well as Stephen Colbert's 11-year stint as its host.
The comedian is up against ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live - whose host has repeatedly sparred with the Trump administration - HBO’s perennial Emmy winner Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Comedy Central’s late-night vehicle The Daily Show and NBC’s long-running variety series Saturday Night Live.
If the category sounds stacked with heavyweights, that's because it is. This year the Television Academy combined its talk series and scripted variety series contenders, bringing several repeat nominees and winners into the fold.
Since it became eligible for the Emmys in 2016, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert has been nominated nearly every year since. It won for outstanding talk series for the first time last year after Colbert's fellow late-night hosts rallied behind him on the heels of CBS announcing the show would end.
It remains to be seen if history will repeat itself tonight, but it's worth pointing out that the final season has already picked up six wins at the 2026 Creative Arts Emmy Award, which were held earlier this month.

'It's a good year for the Welsh' - The Pitt star Gerran Howell tells BBC as he arrivespublished at 00:29 BST 15 September
Regan Morris
Reporting from the Emmys red carpet
The Pitt star Gerran Howell stopped to chat with us as he arrived.
"It's a good year for the Welsh," Howell told me. "I feel great."
Fellow Welsh actor Matthew Rhys has been nominated for two series - Widow's Bay and The Beast in Me.
Howell noted that The Pitt, which is nominated for 25 awards, is now available to watch in the UK.
"It seems to be going down well," he said of the show's reception back home. "I'm getting a lot of messages from family saying they're traumatised, so that's great. We've done our job."
More stars on the blue carpetpublished at 00:25 BST 15 September
Image source, NBC via Getty Images
Image caption,
British actor and The Traitors host Alan Cummings has already been announced as the winner of Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality Competition Program
Image source, NBC via Getty Images
Image caption,
Selena Gomez is nominated for her executive producer role in Hulu's Only Murders In The Building
Image source, NBC via Getty Images
Image caption,
Kristen Bell is executive producer for the Emmy-nominated comedy series Nobody Wants This
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Lisa Kudrow is nominated in the Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series category and for writing for the series The Comeback

Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell arrivepublished at 00:22 BST 15 September
Actors Matthew Rhys and partner Keri Russell, who met while portraying spies in the Emmy-recognised series The Americans, have arrived on the blue carpet.
Rhys is nominated for both his roles in Widow's Bay and The Beast in Me while Russell - who has never taken home an Emmy - is nominated for her starring turn in The Diplomat.
Earlier, the BBC asked Rhys whether he would rather win an Emmy or a BAFTA Cymru. You can see his answer here.
Image source, Getty Images
Your guide to the 2026 Emmys: The moments that could make TV historypublished at 00:15 BST 15 September
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Abbott Elementary star Quinta Brunson could make history tonight if she wins again for outstanding lead actress in a comedy
The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards gets under way in about an hour, so you don't have much time to brush up on your American TV history.
But you can refer back to this guide throughout the evening to keep across any possible history-making moments:
- Most acting Emmys record up for grabs: Hacks star Jean Smart and The Diplomat star Alison Janney could both tie the record for the most acting Emmys ever won by a performer; Cloris Leachman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus currently hold the record with eight.
- Smart could make history in another way: If she wins lead comedy actress again, she'll become the first star to go undefeated five times in a row, for each season of a show
- Other historic firsts for female performers: Quinta Brunson winning outstanding lead actress in a comedy series tonight would make her the first black actress in history to carry the category twice. And if 30-year-old Zendaya wins outstanding lead actress in a drama series, for her role in Euphoria, she'll become the youngest actress and first black actress to win the award three times
- Widow's Bay star Matthew Rhys could become the first Welsh actor to win outstanding lead actor in a comedy series, but if Colman Domingo bests him for his performance in Four Seasons, he'll be the first Afro-Latino actor to take home that Emmy. Jack Lowden could become the first Scottish actor to win best lead actor in a drama series
- Big laughs could bring big records: Widow's Bay goes into tonight's show with eight Emmys collected at the Creative Arts ceremony. It'll need to win at least five of its seven nominations tonight to beat The Studio's record for the most Emmy wins by a comedy in a single year

Hacks star dresses as golden Emmy awardpublished at 00:12 BST 15 September
Comedian and actress Megan Stalter graced the carpet in gold dressed as an Emmy trophy.
Stalter is nominated tonight for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for her role as Kayla in the HBO Max comedy Hacks.
She was escorted by Hacks co-creator Paul W. Downs, who is nominated for three Emmy awards.
Image source, Getty Images
More nominees filing in ahead of showpublished at 00:08 BST 15 September
Stars from this year's top shows, including Jason Segel of Shrinking and Katherine LaNasa from The Pitt, are filing in ahead of the award show.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
(L-R) Kayla Radomski and Jason Segel, who is nominated for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series, attend the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Katherine LaNasa is nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series for her role in The Pitt.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
RuPaul, Law Roach, Ts Madison and Jamal Sims of RuPaul’s Drag Race pose on the blue carpet together. The show received 11 nominations this year.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
John Oliver and his show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver received several nominations for this year's Emmy Awards.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
The news team at "The Daily Show", which earned seven nominations this year.