Noah Kahan at the 78th Emmy Awards held at Peacock Theater on September 14, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rich Polk/Variety via Getty Images)
Variety via Getty Images
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has issued a statement in response to criticism over those not included in Monday night’s 2026 Emmys ceremony.
Apple TV’s Widow’s Bay was the big winner of the night with six Emmy wins, including Outstanding Comedy, while the HBO medical drama The Pitt won the Outstanding Drama Series statuette for the second year in a row.
Also among Monday night’s highlights was the Emmy Awards’ annual In Memoriam segment, which included well-deserved special tributes to Catherine O’Hara, James Burrows and Rob Reiner. Also during the In Memoriam segment, Grammy nominee Noah Kahan played the classic Simon and Garfunkel ballad “Bridge Over Troubled Water” to accompany the video.
Like the Oscars, however, this year’s In Memoriam segment had some glaring omissions. Among them were Walker, Texas Ranger star Chuck Norris; Big Love star and Lilo & Stitch: The Series Lilo voice actress Daveigh Chase; Melrose Place star Patrick Muldoon; 30 Rock star Grizz Chapman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Nicholas Brendon.
Also, noticeably absent from the In Memoriam segment was actor James Ransone — whose TV credits included Season 2 of The Wire, as well as Bosch, Treme, SEAL Team, among many others — who died tragically in December 2025.
The Emmys’ In Memoriam snub marked the second time Ransone wasn’t included in a high-profile tribute, as the actor — whose feature film credits included IT: Chapter Two, Old Boy, The Black Phone and Sinister and its sequel — was omitted from the Oscars’ In Memoriam segment in March.
US actor James Ransone arrives for the World premiere of “It Chapter Two” at the Regency Village theatre in Westwood, California on August 26, 2019. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Sometimes, the Emmys and Oscars excuse omissions by determining the medium where a performer had a greater impact — whether it be film or television — in order to include them in In Memoriam segments. However, there are some clear instances that a performer has an impact in both mediums (take note, Motion Picture Academy, of Norris, Chase and Muldoon when it comes to the In Memoriam segment for the 2027 Oscars.
After Ransone’s snub on Monday night, the actor’s widow, Jamie “Skipper” McPhee — who called her husband by his nickname PJ — chastised the Television Academy in an Instagram story (via Entertainment Weekly).
“My husband @jamesransone was not acknowledged in memoriam at tonight’s Emmys,” McPhee wrote. “He was also not at the Oscars earlier this year. PJ was impossible, lovable, intolerable and incredible — depends on who you ask. But without question — he was a great actor.”
In another Instagram story (via EW), McPhee wrote that while she didn’t watch the Emmys, she didn’t realize the impact of the snub until she learned of it.
“I am incredibly disappointed @televisionacad,” McPhee wrote in the post (via EW). “@Jamesransone was an incredibly gifted actor and it simply is not right to not acknowledge him and his work.”
The Television Academy Says There’s ‘Only A Few Minutes To Honor Those Who Have Passed’
The Television Academy issued a statement to EW over Monday’s In Memoriam controversy, which said, “Every year, the Emmy Awards presents an In Memoriam video for all three ceremonies. Given only a few minutes to honor those who have passed, there is a limit on how many people can be acknowledged on the broadcasts. The Academy presents a more extensive video, listing the hundreds of names of television colleagues we’ve lost in the past year on their website.”
While this year’s In Memoriam segment was 10 minutes and 30 seconds long (which seems much longer than the “few minutes” the Television Academy claims), it appeared that there was ample time to include James Ranson, Chuck Norris, Daveigh Chase, Patrick Muldoon, Grizz Chapman and Nicholas Brendon in the tributes.
True, while the In Memoriam tributes to Catherine O’Hara, James Burrows and Rob Reiner took up more than 6 and a half of the 10 and a half minutes for the segment, most of the people included in the video during Kahan’s performance appear on screen for about 3 seconds apiece. As such, it begs the question of why an additional 18 seconds couldn’t be added to the segment to honor Ransone, Norris, Chase, Muldoon, Chapman and Brendon.
The omission of Brendon is especially baffling, considering that the Television Academy featured two of the late actor’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer co-stars — Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz — as presenters as a way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the series. Gellar was able to indirectly honor her late co-stars, at least, by saying, “David and I would like to acknowledge that it has been a tough two years for our beloved cast and crew, and we feel very lucky to have known and worked with such amazing people.”
For the record, the six performers snubbed in this year’s Emmys In Memoriam segment are among those listed in an 8-minute-plus tribute — in name and profession only, not in photos — on the Television Academy website.
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