Nate Bargatze’s Scheme to Keep Emmy Acceptance Speeches Short Involves Taking Money From Charity

Thank God Adrien Brody isn’t nominated for an Emmy this year, otherwise the Boys & Girls Club of America could go bankrupt.

This Sunday, clean comedy king Nate Bargatze will host the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, and he has already promised not to give in to the temptation to turn TV’s most prestigious ceremony into a roast set like so many other stand-up hosts. While other comedy superstars like Nikki Glaser have used the opportunity afforded by hosting an awards event to show off their sharp elbows and sick burns, Bargatze, whose only insult comedy target throughout his career has been himself, doesn’t believe in being mean-spirited with his sense of humor – he prefers to use his checkbook for that. 

Last night, Bargatze appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where he told one of the most veteran awards show hosts in comedy that he has a unique plan to help keep things moving on Sunday when TV’s biggest stars try to squeeze even more attention and adoration out of their Emmy wins. At the end of the evening, Bargatze will donate $100,000 to the Boys and Girls Club of America – but for every second that any award-winner's acceptance speech goes over their allotted 45 seconds, Bargatze will deduct $1,000 from the donation. 

The mixed reaction from the Jimmy Kimmel Live! audience is likely what Bargatze can expect if/when he announces his plan to the nominees at the top of the show on Sunday. In theory, guilt tripping celebrities into keeping their self-congratulatory acceptance speeches brief sounds like a good idea, but there's something uncomfortably sinister about putting the limited resources given to poor and working class children on the line just to try to make Ben Stiller stop taking all the credit for Severance.

At the same time, there is a serious opportunity here for any self-effacing entertainment professionals to force Bargatze to put his money where his mouth is by closing their own. There are 26 Emmy Awards to be presented on Sunday, so, if everyone can trim down their acceptance speech to a quick and easy 10 seconds, they can force Bargatze to cough up more than a million dollars to charity.

But, sadly, we all know that there is nothing celebrities love more than being praised by their peers and the entire Emmy-watching world, so don't expect too many actors to go under the 45 seconds and put money back in the pot. Hell, depending on who wins, there is a strong possibility that one single actor goes way overboard with their speech and uses up the entire charity check themselves. 

Bargatze may be one of comedy's most beloved nice guys, but his squeaky-clean image is going to take a hit when he ends up sending the Boys & Girls Club of America an invoice.