The SNL "Weekend Update" co-anchor was dragged on Twitter over a Los Angeles Times interview published Tuesday in which he and fellow Emmys co-host Michael Che were asked, "Are you fond of awards shows generally?" Jost responded by downplaying award shows and complaining that "good, fun things" don't win awards: "Eh," he said. "I think most of the time they’re way too self-serious and focused on things that 99% of the country doesn’t care about. At the end of the day, it’s adults getting trophies. Why should that be taken seriously? And remember when movies like Gladiator won Best Picture? Why can’t good, fun things win and not just good artsy things? They’re both good and the fun ones are sometimes a lot harder to make." Jost was immediately criticized, with critics pointing out that the Emmys honors hit shows like Game of Thrones. They also slammed him for being the target audience of the Academy Awards' new "popular film" award. Another critic, Sam Adams, pointed out another part of the interview where Jost said he was "flabbergasted that Kyle MacLachlan was not nominated for best actor in a Whatever-That-Category-Is-Called" for Twin Peaks. Adams said of Jost's complaint: "Man Colin Jost is gonna be so mad when he hears about Colin Jost." Meanwhile, Che responded to the hubbub by coming to his Emmys co-host's defense: "lol yo, i had no idea white people took award shows so seriously," Che wrote on his Instagram Stories. "i may have seen 4 award shows in my entire life, TOTAL. these emmys are gonna be maaad fun. watch!"
TOPICS: 70th Primetime Emmy Awards, NBC, Colin Jost, Michael Che, Award Shows