Bad Bunny won his first Primetime Emmy on Saturday (Sept. 5) – night one of the Creative Arts Emmys, which were held at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles. The Puerto Rican superstar won outstanding variety special (live) for The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny (NBC). He won as both the lead performer and a producer.
It’s just the second Super Bowl Halftime Show to win the top program Emmy. The Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show Starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent won four years ago. Shawn Carter (Jay-Z), Desiree Perez and Jesse Collins won as executive producers of both shows. Dave Meyers won as co-executive producer of both shows.
The other nominees in the category this year were 83rd Annual Golden Globes (CBS), 68th Annual Grammy Awards (CBS), The Oscars (ABC) and 78th Annual Tony Awards (CBS).
The award comes seven months after Bunny became the first artist to win album of the year at the Grammy Awards for a Spanish-language album. He won for DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.
The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny won seven awards, easily becoming the most-awarded Super Bowl halftime show in Emmy history, surpassing the aforementioned 2022 hip-hop show, which won three. It is also the first Spanish-language program to win outstanding variety special (live).
Bunny’s Halftime Show also won outstanding music direction; outstanding directing for a variety special; outstanding sound mixing for a variety series or special; outstanding choreography for variety or reality programming; outstanding lighting design/lighting direction for a special; and outstanding technical direction and camerawork for a special.
A second program starring Bunny won a Primetime Emmy: The episode of Saturday Night Live that he hosted won outstanding makeup for a variety, nonfiction or reality program.
Another pop megastar, Taylor Swift, was nominated for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded) for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour | The Final Show (Disney+), but lost to another Disney + program, The Muppet Show. The show, which paid tribute to the beloved series, also featured top talent, including Sabrina Carpenter (who won her first Primetime Emmy as an executive producer and performer on the special), Maya Rudolph and Seth Rogen. The other nominees in the category were Dave Chappelle: The Unstoppable… (Netflix), Nikki Glaser: Good Girl (Hulu) and Wicked: One Wonderful Night (NBC).
For the record, Swift is already a Primetime Emmy winner. She won a juried award in 2015 – outstanding creative achievement in interactive media – original interactive program as artist and executive producer of AMEX Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience. She has also won 14 Grammys and is widely seen as the front-runner to win the Oscar on March 14 for “I Knew It, I Knew You” from Toy Story 5.
Two of the seven music categories were presented Saturday – Miguel Gandelman won outstanding music direction for Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show. Tyler Strickland won outstanding music composition for a documentary/nonfiction or reality program for John Candy: I Like Me. These were the first Primetime Emmys for both musicians.
Gandelman is the third person to win outstanding music direction for work on a Super Bowl Halftime Show. Adam Blackstone won for the aforementioned all-star hip-hop show. Kendrick Lamar and Tony Russell won last year for The Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Starring Kendrick Lamar.
Hamish Hamilton won for outstanding directing for a variety special for the third time in the past four years. He won this year for his work on Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime show. He won in that category in 2023 for co-directing (with Jay-Z) the Super Bowl Halftime Show starring Rihanna and in 2024 for directing the Oscars.
Billy Joel: And So It Goes (HBO Max • HBO) won outstanding sound mixing for a nonfiction program.
Sean Combs: The Reckoning (Netflix) won outstanding picture editing for a nonfiction program.
Mr. Scorsese, the Apple TV program about film director Martin Scorsese, won outstanding documentary or nonfiction series.
A total of 49 categories were presented on Saturday. A total of 53 categories will be presented on night two of the Creative Arts Emmys on Sunday (Sept. 6). Just 19 categories will be presented on the live Emmy telecast, set for Monday Sept. 14.
The Creative Arts Emmys are not telecast or streamed but highlights from the two ceremonies will air on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 8 p.m. PT on FXX. The program will be available to stream on Hulu starting the next day.
The 78th Emmy Awards telecast, hosted by actress Mariska Hargitay (who won two awards on Saturday for My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay, about her mother, 1960s sex symbol Jayne Mansfield), will air live coast-to-coast on NBC on Monday, Sept. 14, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT from the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live. It will also stream on Peacock.
