What You Didn't See On TV At The 2019 Emmys

The 71st Primetime Emmy Awards proved to be one action-packed ceremony! As three fan favorites — Veep, Game of Thrones and The Big Bang Theory — attended their last-ever Emmys, they went out swinging, holding on to their crowns for as long as they could. 

While GoT smashed its own record for most Emmy wins ever by a drama or comedy, and made headlines with a record-breaking 32 nominations for a single season, Veep star Julia Louis-Dreyfus was unable to beat the record for most acting wins, as she lost to Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge for best actress in a comedy. Meanwhile, Norman Lear became the oldest person ever to win an Emmy at 97 years and 49 days of age.

For all the action that took place in front of the cameras, there was also plenty of buzz and drama behind the scenes. Here are all the biggest moment you didn't see on TV at the 2019 Emmys. 

This Is Us has been a phenomenon since it premiered in the fall of 2016, and it just keeps getting stronger. As of 2017, the show had generated over $100 million in advertising revenue for NBC and, in May 2019, was renewed for three more seasons. 

Given the series' popularity, no one was really surprised when it snagged nine nominations — no one except Chris Sullivan. The 39-year-old, who plays Toby, had no idea he had been nominated for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series until his on-screen wife broke the news to him. As Sullivan admitted to E! News, he was "blissfully unaware" of the honor. "I was at home in Sacramento, visiting my parents, and I got a text from Chrissy Metz, saying, 'Congratulations' with all these emojis and exclamation points," he revealed. "I thought, 'That's weird, I wonder what that's for.' And then I got another one from my publicist. So I was like, 'Wait. Chrissy, congrats for what?'" As Metz excitedly told him he had been nominated, the actor still couldn't put two and two together. "I was like, 'Oh, the show's been nominated for an Emmy, that's great.'"

Sullivan eventually figured it out (but not before Metz called him a "dummy"), and was overcome with gratitude. "The ensemble nature of our show is one of our favorite things about our jobs, so to be nominated among such an amazing group of people is very special," he noted.

For the fourth time in its history, and the first since 2003, the Emmys decided to skip out on choosing an official host. Unlike all of the drama that forced last year's Academy Awards to go down the same route, however, TV's biggest night went live without a host for a surprising — but very legitimate — reason. 

As FOX Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier told reporters the 2019 Television Critics Association summer press tour (via Entertainment Tonight), the decision to omit a master of ceremonies was made to give the real stars of the show — the nominees — their deserved time in the spotlight. "What's interesting about this year to me is how many amazing shows we're saying goodbye to. You've got Game of Thrones, our own Empire, Veep and Big Bang Theory [so] you really do have to look at all the trade-offs," he said, explaining, "If you have a host and an opening number, that's 15, 20 minutes you can't use to [honor] the shows." Collier concluded, "We will go hostless this year, and I think it will give us more time to honor those shows."

A week before the Emmys hit the airwaves, the Creative Arts Emmy Awards took over Los Angeles on September 14 and 15, 2019, for two nights of ceremonies, crowning numerous winners in categories like reality, documentary, animation and choreography. 

Self-improvement powerhouse Marie Kondo, who hit Netflix gold with the January 2019 debut of Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, was nominated for two awards, and seemed like a shoe-in to win outstanding structured reality program and/or outstanding host for a reality or competition program. Variety even went as far as to predict that Kondo "could clean up at the ceremony." Get it? After all, the series sparked a devoted fan base of 3.2 million on Instagram, inspired countless social media posts, and was the focus of endless media coverage. 

Shockingly, Kondo and her show were totally snubbed, losing outstanding structured reality program to the Fab Five of Queer Eye and getting beat out by RuPaul for outstanding host for a reality or competition program.

It's safe to say that Beyoncé fans were likely not tuning into the awards ceremony on Sunday after their beloved Queen Bey was completely snubbed during the Creative Arts Emmys. Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé, the documentary she wrote, directed, and produced about becoming the first black woman to ever headline Coachella, was nominated for six awards — and it lost all six.

The fact that Carpool Karaoke: When Corden Met McCartney beat out Homecoming for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded) struck a particular chord with the Beyhive who couldn't help but criticize the decision, even going as far as to call it racist. 

Ellen contributor Kalen Allen wrote, "You mean to tell me Beyonce won no Emmys tonight for Homecoming?! Y'all stay disrespecting her in her face! Smh!" Culture critic Soraya Nadia McDonald agreed, tweeting, "James Corden is a perfectly lovely human being. I enjoy Carpool Karaoke. It's a good bit. HOMECOMING, on the other hand, is seminal. It is timeless. It is exhaustive and original. This really, really bothers me." Meanwhile, another fan slammed, "HOMECOMING not winning any emmys is racist. The majority of the winners can't hold a candle to the production of that performance!" and the criticisms just went on. 

Mario Lopez just can't stay out of trouble! Last year, the 45-year-old Access Hollywood host hit the Emmys red carpet wearing a medical boot because he had torn his Achilles tendon while sparring and this year, he once again arrived nursing a sparring injury. 

Lopez worked the carpet in an arm brace, having torn his biceps just days before the show. On September 18, he took to Instagram to reveal that he had been rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. 

Sharing a video and a number of photos, which showed him getting blood drawn, going into an MRI machine and "getting fitted for [a] brace that [he's] not supposed to take off no matter what," Lopez wrote, "Evidently, I'm not 25 yrs old anymore... Tore my biceps sparring. Might have to take it down a notch. Surgery was a success. Thank you Dr. Itamura!" 

Lopez took the injury in good stride, however, joking that he had been transformed into RoboCop, and telling fans on Instagram, "Let's hope next year I'm not rockin a neck brace or body cast!"

Sophie Turner had a momentous Emmy night, celebrating her first-ever nomination for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series, but unfortunately, she had to fly solo. The 23-year-old star enjoyed the evening with her fellow Game of Thrones cast mates instead of her husband, Joe Jonas, who was playing a concert with the Jonas Brothers in Kansas City, Missouri. He made sure to share plenty of virtual love with his bride, however, taking to Instagram Stories to share a few heartfelt words. Posting a snap of Turner, he wrote (via People), "I am so proud of you. You are nominated for an Emmy! You are incredible. I love you."

The young actress also got plenty of love and support from sister-in-law Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who took to her own Stories to post a collage of Turner on the GoT set and gush (via People), "Good luck to our girl tonight. @SophieT our #Emmys nominee."

Of all the sartorial choices that made headlines on Sunday night, both good and bad, no fashion moment had an impact on fans quite as intense as Gwendoline Christie's. The 40-year-old Game of Thrones star, who was nominated for best supporting actress in a drama series after submitting her own name for the nom, decided to walk the purple carpet in a frock inspired by the show that made her famous and, well, social media lost it.

The dress and cape combo, which came from Gucci's Resort 2020 collection and featured a white floor-length gown topped with a gold-embroidered red cape, soon had her being compared to Jesus. One Twitter user joked, "The G in Gwendoline Christie stands for God," while another chimed in, "@lovegwendoline giving me Jesus vibes! Amen." Yet another quipped, "You've heard of god is a woman. now get ready for jesus is a woman." Amen!

Once all of the statues were handed out, stars headed over to the LA LIVE Event Deck for the Governor's Ball after party where food and drink flowed freely. For the 24th year, the Emmys enlisted celebrity chef Joachim Splichal and his Patina Catering company to feed the stars. 

Just like 2018, when organizers first decided to no longer organize a sit-down dinner, nominees and winners dined on hors d'oeuvres and food from less formal meal stations, according to Parade. Stars could take their pick from over 30 dishes, which included everything from vegan beet poke, to grass-fed beef tenderloin served with creamy potato gratin, to Mexican-inspired ravioli, to sliders of Maryland crab, to mini milkshakes, and much more. US Weekly also learned there were 7,000 Lindt chocolate pots de creme, topped off with edible gold dust, 10,000 truffles, and between 5,000 to 8,000 cups of Joe from Don Francisco's Coffee.

There was also no shortage of alcohol. A-listers sipped on 10,000 glasses, or 1,500 bottles, of Sterling Vineyards wines, according to US Weekly, as well as Ferrari Trento sparkling wines and close to 7,000 signature cocktails, a Marvelous Mule, made from over 1,000 bottles of Ketel One vodka. What's more, winners also took home a personalized bottle of Sterling Vineyards' 2015 Iridium Cabernet Sauvignon.