Not only can John Mulaney deliver the jokes, he can speak up about the important issues, too.
The standup comedian and actor, who presented at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, earned laughs for his impassioned speech about men’s representation on TV. Mulaney shared the remarks while presenting the award for best lead actor in a drama series.
“This is the best part of the night. Lead actor in a drama: This award is for the guys. Just men being men. Finally, something for the fellas,” Mulaney, 44, said. “And what a crop of prom kings we have. They’re not soft like the dad on ‘Bluey.'”
Mulaney then gave the Emmys audience a history lesson on the alleged gender inequality male actors have faced through the years.
“For the first three years TV existed, there were no men on it,” Mulaney said. “It was just beauty contests and children talking to hand puppets until the early ’60s. Until a man walked out and said, ‘Enough! My name is Fonzie, and the president’s been shot.'”
The “Big Mouth” star also got racy in his speech while praising the award category’s nominees, which included Sterling K. Brown, Noah Wyle, Gary Oldman, Mark Ruffalo and Rufus Sewell. Mulaney made a reference to DJ Khaled’s headlining-making 2014 comments about refusing to perform oral sex on his wife.
“I believe it was DJ Khaled who said, ‘Real men don’t go…'” Mulaney said, before his remarks were censored by the broadcast. “But these nominees know that is BS. They know there’s often less pressure on them if they do that first.”
In the end, Wyle ended up being the man of the night, winning the award for his performance as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch on HBO Max’s medical drama “The Pitt.”
“This is all I ever wanted to do,” he said. “This is the only club I’ve ever wanted to join. Thank you for accepting me.”
Contributing: Kelly Lawler, Erin Jensen and Liza Esquibias, USA TODAY