The 2025 Emmy Awards raised $350,000 for the Boys and Girls Club after host Nate Bargatze pledged to donate $100,000 with the incentive of keeping the winners’ acceptance speeches 45 seconds or shorter.
“If you stay 45 seconds, it stays at $100,000,” he continued, adding that he would deduct $1,000 from the total every time someone’s speech went over 45 seconds.
And these 45 seconds — whew!
I love it,” he said before reminding the crowd to “zip it” if their speeches were going over 45 seconds.
“It takes us to $350,000 for the Boys and Girls Club,” he announced.
In exchange for the winners’ acceptance speeches being 45 seconds or less, host Nate Bargatze promised to donate $100,000, which helped the 2025 Emmy Awards raise $350,000 for the Boys and Girls Club.
Bargatze began the awards ceremony on Sunday by stating that he was faced with the difficulty of figuring out how to keep the acceptance speeches within the allocated time. “Really, make your point. I am aware of how hard each of you has worked to get here. I don’t want to take anything away,” he declared. 45 seconds. It’s what you have. Do it on social media later if you wish to accomplish more. In any event, more people will see it there. “”.
They applauded when he explained that he was kicking off the show by giving $100,000 to the Boys and Girls Club. He went on to say, “If you stay 45 seconds, it stays at $100,000.” He added that he would take $1,000 off the total each time a speech lasted longer than 45 seconds.
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It’s cruel. However, what will you do?” he asked. “I am powerless to alter it. These are the rules for a game I made up. “”.
But the first-time Emmys host claimed that each speech that lasted less than 45 seconds would earn the show an additional $1,000. After that, he inquired about the duration of Seth Rogen’s acceptance speech for best actor in a comedy at the top of the show, which was less than the allocated time.
In order to remind the nominees of the significance of the donation, JB Smoove introduced the audience to two young members of the Boys and Girls Club, while Bargatze regularly checked in on the amount raised. “Nate, this is the most incredible concept I’ve ever seen. You are an absolutely fantastic host tonight. Additionally, he remarked, “And these 45 seconds — whew! I love it,” before telling the audience to “zip it” if their speeches went longer than 45 seconds.
When giving their acceptance speeches, a number of the nominees took the donation into consideration. Hacks star Hannah Einbinder noted that she would “pay the difference” when she realized her speech was becoming slurred while accepting a supporting role in a comedy series. During their acceptance speech for outstanding directing for a comedy series for The Studio, Rogen and Evan Goldberg later said that they had completed their speech in less than forty-five seconds. Following a joke, Tina Fey informed Bargatze that she would “pay for the time” during her fantastic live variety show.
Daniel O’Brien concluded his acceptance speech for Best Writing for a Variety Series for Last Week Tonight With John Oliver by exclaiming, “Go Boys and Girls Clubs of America, go!!!!”. The same team made sure to keep their speech brief when they accepted the award for outstanding scripted variety series earlier in the evening. “I believe they have won enough,” Bargatze stated later in the show after John Oliver added some time once more.
Eventually, though, many of the winners stopped trying to keep their speeches under 45 seconds, and they saw their dollar amount decrease as they took their time. When accepting the award for best talk show, Stephen Colbert went over the allotted time, and when accepting the award for best comedy series, the Studio’s cast and crew admitted that the money was decreasing.
Three minutes after eleven o’clock, the ceremony came to an end. m. ET, with Bargatze calling their financial loss “embarrassing.”. He went on to say that he would personally donate $250,000 and that CBS would contribute an additional $100,000 to the donation. He declared, “It brings the total amount for the Boys and Girls Club to $350,000.”.
Bargatze announced on a Jimmy Kimmel Live! episode prior to the awards show that he would start the show with the donation incentive. By stating that he contributed his own funds for the donation, he demonstrated that he was serious about the idea. “That room has the authority to decide how much or how little to give them,” he stated. “I have no control over it. We have a TV show to finish, and I’m sorry to say it. “.”.
