Christina Applegate Was Queen of Roasts During Emmys Red Carpet Cringefest

By Ellen Johnson  |  September 23, 2019 | 12:34pm
Photo courtesy of Fox
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Christina Applegate Was Queen of Roasts During Emmys Red Carpet Cringefest

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, especially when that woman’s career is degraded on national television by another woman.

Christina Applegate, a nominee for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her delightful work on this year’s Dead to Me, graced the Emmys red carpet on Sunday night, dazzling in a tulle gray gown. Applegate eventually lost the trophy to Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge (who rightfully swept most of the comedy categories), but her night seemed doomed from the beginning. Things took a turn for the awkward when she arrived to the Fox outpost on the carpet, where host Jenny McCarthy was serving up weird handshakes and topical interview questions. McCarthy congratulates Applegate on her nomination and remarks on her previous Emmys win for Outstanding Guest Actress in a 1994 Friends episode before asking, “Tonight you’re nominated for your own show, what does that feel like? First time right?”

The pursing of the lips that followed would give Miranda Priestly a run for her money—Applegate, who was nominated twice for her show Samantha Who?, in 2008 and 2009, shot McCarthy a look that says “Are you kidding me?!” C’mon, Jenny! Did anyone ever teach you how to use Google? Watch Applegate’s reaction in the tweet below.

Unfortunately for Applegate, McCarthy wasn’t the only scatterbrained hostess she had to tolerate last night. By the time she made it to E!’s station, Applegate looked ready to flee for the nearest exit. Seasoned E! host Giuliana Rancic has never exactly been a consistently poised interviewer, but I would’ve expected a more graceful response from her during this uncomfortable moment in last night’s Applegate chat. Rancic asks Applegate to send greetings to Applegate’s daughter at home, at which time she says, bluntly, “I don’t think she’s watching E!.” Yikes. Watch Rancic’s reactionary fumble below.

As with nearly every awards show, watching the red carpet segment is a balancing act of holding your breath and gazing at the fashion. I’m always desperately rooting for both the interviewer and interviewee to avoid awkward topics and keep the conversation flowing (this is live TV, after all), and the 2019 Emmys carpet had me feeling especially sweaty. The stars appeared bored, rushed and constantly confused when it came time to exit stage right or left. Even the usually sunshiny Queer Eye cast seemed exasperated. So maybe Applegate’s clap-backs were just what this cringey, corrupted carpet needed last night, as this Twitter user wrote:

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I’ll leave you with these two truths: Applegate still deserves recognition for her excellent work on Netflix’s Dead to Me, and red carpet hosts probably need to spend a little more time doing internet research before greeting the talent. Alas, those suns may never rise. See you at the Golden Globes!

 
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