The 2022 Emmy Awards season will long be remembered as the year that everyone’s makeup melted right off their faces as party venues all over town valiantly tried to crank up their air conditioning. It was a somewhat futile attempt to fight the brutal heat wave that went hand-in-hand with every single day leading up to Monday’s big night. There was even a hurricane thrown in (well, the vestiges of one, anyway), proving that it actually does rain in Southern California – at the most inconvenient times. And Queen Elizabeth II’s death prompted both the Canadian consulate and BAFTA to cancel their popular annual pre-Emmy celebrations.
But mostly the fun began before the weekend did and rolled straight through to late Monday evening, as partygoers swooned over the winners and commiserated with the losers at the Governor’s Gala and beyond — including an improptu “Squid Game” rave (above) that broke out at the Netflix’s post-show celebration at Milk Studios.
Doris Bergman brought her annual luxe lounge to Hollywood and her fans followed, including Lisa Ann Walter, who’s part of the “Abbott Elementary” cast reveling in the spotlight as a hugely successful new show. She and a crowd including Constance Marie, Eric Roberts and 2022 nominee Christopher McDonald checked out the hot (literally) patio scene at L’Antica Pizzaria da Michele. That’s where fashion designer Sue Wong showed outrageous embroidered evening wear while cannabis (The Marijuana Company) and liquor companies (Dulce Vida Organic Tequila, Spa Girl Vodka and Soonhari Soju) gathered to get everybody’s head twisted on right, which distracted a little from the sweatbox that was their back patio.
Everyone’s favorite shrink brightened up the Performers Nominee Reception at the Television Academy’s Saban Center, as “Ted Lasso” star Sarah Niles (right) joined the big crowd of top TV stars at the academy’s annual bash honoring the actors that have made the last year of television watching a delight. “Lasso” co-star Sam Richardson headed out into the Valley to join in, as did hunky Sebastian Stan (left) and their fellow nominees including “Succession” stars Matthew Macfadyen and J. Smith-Cameron along with Michael Stuhlberg, Janelle James, Connie Britton and a host of others.
Impresario Gavin Keilly brought his eBay & GBK Brand Bar luxury celebrity gifting lounge back to the Beverly Wilshire garden for two days, but after day one was a sweatfest, he took the whole thing inside for the second day, while raindrops fell and stars breathed a sigh of air conditioned relief. 2022 nominees Rhea Seehorn and Christopher McDonald (above) stopped by, as did Angela Bassett, Danny Strong, Kate Burton, Esai Morales and many others, who tasted everything from California Caviar Company’s sturgeon roe paired with Cardinal du Four Armagnac to Ike’s crowd pleasing “Love and Sandwiches” offerings and El Cristiano’s smooth tequila. And they went home with five-night trips to Sailrock Resort on Turks and Caicos, African safaris and eBay gift cards, too.
The newest “ladies who lunch” and have Emmy nominations looked nothing like a gang of WASP-y rich housewives at the Glamour (Magazine’s) x Tory Burch luncheon. It celebrated the accomplished women gathered to enjoy their hard-earned success, as Connie Britton, Janelle James, Quinta Brunson, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Sydney Sweeney joined Issa Rae, Rachel Brosnahan (above, left), Hannah Einbinder and Nasim Pedrad in a lovely lunch at Holloway House in WeHo.
Saturday night’s Paramount Emmy Party brought together all things under the studio’s umbrella, ranging from CBS and BET to MTV, Nickelodeon, Showtime and Paramount+, which made for a packed scene at the brand-new and incredibly elegant Catch Steak LA (which transformed the old Fig & Olive space). RuPaul, who took home his 12th Emmy the weekend before, held court in one of the spacious banquettes by the bar, while fellow 2022 nominees Christina Ricci, Himesh Patel, Juno Temple, Phil Keoghan, Trevor Noah and Melanie Lynskey explored both levels of the swank new place as music blared at ear-splitting levels. Melanie (above) admitted to TheWrap that while she was over the moon at being nominated, she had her doubts about bringing home a trophy for her first nomination as lead actress in a drama series. “Oh no, I don’t think I will win,” she said with smile, “because there are so many great people in my category.” But did she have a speech written, just in case? “Not yet! But I will by Monday night,” Lynskey chuckled.
A stellar group of Emmy nominees made their way to the Westside to check out Nathalie Dubois’ popular annual DPA Pre-Awards Gift Suite over the course of two days, including Alex Borstein (above), Steve Zahn and Chris McDonald, checking out her Luxe Sunset Hotel offerings. They, along with Giancarlo Esposito of “Better Call Saul” fame and “Ozark” breakout star Jessica Frances Dukes and many others, discovered handmade Bijoux Sail Away Jewellery from New Brunswick, Canada and handcrafted footwear from Jacob Madani (made in L.A.) while sipping Rendez Vous Champagne and SelvaRey Rum, the Panamanian rum owned by Bruno Mars. Nominees also wandered home with trips to Bali Soori Bali Resort or Le Taha’a Resort in Tahiti.
By the time Sunday brunch rolled around, the heat and humidity in West Hollywood was so thick you could almost slice it with a knife, but that didn’t stop the AMC Networks from having what should have been a lovely party in the gardens of Ysabel restaurant. But it was so hot that even the indoor spaces at Ysabel didn’t have the AC power to fight it off, so the very sweaty crowd just gritted it out. “Better Call Saul” nominee Bob Odenkirk and his cortege took over a shady part of the garden, while his co-star and fellow nominee Rhea Seehorn and her pals occupied a booth in the sort-of air-conditioned inside space. Rhea joked that it isn’t just the heat, it’s the mosquitoes, and that there should be “a mosquito index instead of a heat index, I am covered in bites” and admitted that she wasn’t very confident about her chances to take home her first Emmy. “I don’t think I’m going to win,” she announced, “but I am having so much fun this week!”
The “Hacks” gang didn’t care that it was still 88 degrees in the shade at Grandmaster Recorders in Hollywood on Sunday evening, as they gathered en masse to help Bustle Magazine pay tribute to second-time Emmy nominee Hannah Einbinder. She’s definitely gotten more than just her 15 minutes of fame by playing Jean Smart’s foil on “Hacks” and at the party in her honor, Smart and many of their other talented co-stars (Mark Indelicato, Johnny Sibilly and Meg Stalter) joined in for a toast to the deadpan comedian who’s now solidified her rep as a terrific actress as well.
Everyone who was anyone showed up at the 16th Annual Motion Picture and Television Fund Evening Before fundraiser, held in Century City on Sunday, helping to raise a record $3 million to support the fund’s ongoing work to make sure that people in the industry who are in need. Everyone, including this truly star-studded group (Lee Jung-jae, Sydney Sweeney, Bob Odenkirk, Rachel Brosnahan, Andrew Garfield, Tony Shalhoub, Alex Borstein, Christina Ricci, Himesh Patel and Kaitlyn Dever) took in the 50 Cent concert that culminated this casual very warm evening under the stars, where not one person needed a jacket.
After the Emmy Awards 2022 were in the books, the after parties began. The HBO/HBO Max family headed to the San Vicente Bungalows to revel in their 38 Emmy wins, led by Zendaya (above), who changed from one big dress to another and pulled back her hair, ready to join the party. She found lots of familiar faces inside, including Sarah Snook, Oscar Isaac, Alexandra Daddario, Brian Cox, Jean Smart, Jeremy Strong, Murray Bartlett and her co-star Maude Apatow, whose dad Judd joined her in the party swirl.
Netflix had plenty to get excited about with 26 Emmy wins this year, so it’s no surprise that a bit of a rave broke out on the dance floor at Milk Studios, led by the Korean cast of “Squid Game.” That dark drama won six Emmys, while “Stranger Things” brought home four. And Julia Garner and her belly-button-baring dress joined the celebration, greeted by fellow Netflix stars like Aaron Paul — all the while clutching her 2022 trophy, her third (and last) for her top-notch work in “Ozark.” Also spotted in the huge party crush: Ted Sarandos, Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, Geena Davis, Shonda Rhimes and Mindy Kaling.
The Disney Company family mustered 26 Emmys in 2022, including wins for Quinta Brunson for penning “Abbott Elementary,” Michael Keaton in “Dopesick” and Amanda Seyfried in “The Dropout.” All three made the scene Monday night at the huge after-party held at Otium restaurant, where the scrum in the back garden got so thick that people started jokingly shouting “Stay alive! I will find you!” And no wonder, as the star quotient was off the charts, as Martin Short, Sebastian Stan, Lily James, Andrew Garfield, Elle Fanning, Nicholas Hoult wiggled through the jam. Hoult, in a classic take on his “The Great” character, shouted out to a well-wisher who wished to him that he would have won in his category of Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, “I know! I mean, WHAT THE F—!” and caused a ripple of laughs through the wall-to-wall people. The “Abbott Elementary” gang, including winners Sheryl Lee Ralph (above) and Quinta Brunson and co-stars Lisa Ann Walter, Tyler James Williams and William Stanford Davis turned up fashionably late, perhaps so Brunson could avoid a meeting with Jimmy Kimmel, who seemed very subdued earlier in the evening. Perhaps he looked at his Twitter feed before he arrived?
By the time the night was winding down and a photographer caught Sam Richardson, Jason Sudeikis and Andrew Garfield (above) looking a tad worse for the wear at the Apple TV+ post party at Mother Wolf, everyone had felt the continuing “Ted Lasso” love. Brett Goldstein joined Sudeikis in showing off his prize, while Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple, Brendan Hunt, Nick Mohammed and Toheeb Jimoh all joined in celebrating their second-in-a-row win for comedy series. Reese Witherspoon, Adam Scott, Ben Stiller, John Turturro, Patricia Arquette and many others joined the celebration and when it wound down, the 2022 Emmy Awards record books were finally closed, with Apple TV+ taking home nine total wins.
