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“Don’t go crazy though cause like, I am paying for this,” Bargatze said about the dollar amount on screen.
LOS ANGELES — Emmys host Nate Bargatze found a creative way to tackle television’s most notorious time-killer: rambling acceptance speeches. The stand-up comedian put cash for a good cause on the line — with a little bit of a guilt trip.
During an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Tuesday night, Bargatze revealed he will pledge $100,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America at the start of Sunday’s 77th Annual Emmy Awards ceremony on CBS.
The catch? That donation shrinks by $1,000 for every second a winner exceeds the 45-second speech limit.
A timer popped up during speeches running past their limit, rapidly counting down how much money the charity would lose in donation.
Seth Rogen’s acceptance speech for the first category announced, lead actor in a comedy series, was under the allotted time, which bumped the donation to $106,000.
By the end of the show’s first hour, the total had plummeted to $74,000, but rapidly jumped back up to over $100,000 when John Oliver gave up most of his speech time.
By the time the show was drawing to a close, with only a couple of awards left, the tally was negative-$60,000.
The Tennessee-born comedian, known for his deadpan delivery and self-deprecating humor, ended up donating $250,000 from his own pocket and said CBS added $100,000 for a total of $350,000 raised for the charity.
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