US Business

Dysfunctional family saga “Succession” on Monday took top honors for best drama at the Emmys, television’s biggest night of the year, as “Squid Game” made history when Lee Jung-jae was named best actor, a first for a non-English-language performer.

The South Korean social satire about misfits and criminals competing for cash in twisted versions of schoolyard games had also been in the running for the top prize, but the Netflix hit was bested by HBO’s latest awards darling.

Accepting the best drama award, “Succession”  creator Jesse Armstrong noted it had been a big week for successions — a reference to the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the ascension to the British throne of her son.

“Evidently (there’s) a little bit more voting involved in our winning than Prince Charles,” he quipped.

“Succession,” a Shakespearean drama about a family betraying each other for control of a media empire, led the nominations ahead of Monday’s gala with 25, winning four awards overall.

Other big winners on the night were fellow HBO stablemate “The White Lotus,” which won a total of 10 Emmys including best limited series, and Apple TV+ comedy favorite “Ted Lasso,” again a winner for best comedy and best actor Jason Sudeikis. 

“Lotus,” a stylish satire on wealth and hypocrisy set in a luxury Hawaiian resort, scooped up two acting prizes as well as directing and writing honors, plus other technical awards.

The limited series award caps contenders at a single season, although “The White Lotus” is slightly bending the rules, having been recommissioned for a second go-around.

It beat out competition in the limited series category from shows recounting four real-life scandals, including “Dopesick,” a hard-hitting look at the US opioid crisis, and “The Dropout,” which recalls the Theranos fraud.

Michael Keaton and Amanda Seyfried won acting awards for their respective turns on “Dopesick” and “The Dropout.” 

But Netflix’s “Squid Game” made a statement with its six Emmys — beyond Lee, the series won for best directing, best guest drama actress Lee Yoo-mi and three other technical categories.

The wins cement its place in the so-called Korean Wave of popular entertainment, with superstar boy band BTS sweeping the charts and “Parasite” winning the top Oscar in recent years.

– ‘Great deal of progress’ –

The high glamour gala was a return to business as usual in Hollywood as the long awards season started with a bang for the first time in the stricter Covid-19 era.

Host Kenan Thompson opened the proceedings with a dance number set to a medley of hit TV show themes, including “Friends” and “Game of Thrones,” before bringing on talk show legend Oprah Winfrey, who lauded “the most successful broadcast medium in the world: television.”

There were few surprises throughout the night, with trophies spread around the usual suspects.

Zendaya repeated her feat as best actress in a drama for her turn in “Euphoria,” two years after she became the youngest ever winner in the category for the first season of HBO’s hard-hitting look at teenage life.

Hitmaker Lizzo, who made a serious fashion statement in a billowing red tulle dress, said her victory for “Watch Out For The Big Grrrls” in the competition program category represented a win for diversity.

“When I was a little girl, all I wanted to see was me in the media,” she said, the emotion clear on her face.

“Someone fat like me. Black like me. Beautiful like me. 

“If I could go back and tell a little Lizzo something, I’d be like, ‘You’re gonna see that person, but bitch, it’s going to have to be you.'”

Quinta Brunson took home her first Emmy for writing for ABC sitcom hit “Abbott Elementary” and co-star Sheryl Lee Ralph won for best supporting actress, celebrating with a verse of Dianne Reeves’ “Endangered Species.”

The show was a rare winner for traditional networks, along with perennial Emmys juggernaut “Saturday Night Live.”

Geena Davis’ Institute on Gender in Media won the special Governors Award, and the veteran actress took up Lizzo’s theme.

“Television can often directly impact how people see themselves and judge their value in the world,” she said. 

“We’ve made a great deal of progress, but still there’s more work to do.”

Monday’s ceremony marked a return to normality, after the Covid-19 crisis forced producers to get creative with remote and socially distanced editions in 2020 and 2021.

The show at a downtown Los Angeles theater was also the first major Hollywood awards ceremony since this year’s extraordinary Oscars, when Will Smith stunned the world by slapping Chris Rock over a joke about his wife.

Dysfunctional family saga “Succession” on Monday took top honors for best drama at the Emmys, television’s biggest night of the year, as “Squid Game” made history when Lee Jung-jae was named best actor, a first for a non-English-language performer.

The South Korean social satire about misfits and criminals competing for cash in twisted versions of schoolyard games had also been in the running for the top prize, but the Netflix hit was bested by HBO’s latest awards darling.

Accepting the best drama award, “Succession”  creator Jesse Armstrong noted it had been a big week for successions — a reference to the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the ascension to the British throne of her son.

“Evidently (there’s) a little bit more voting involved in our winning than Prince Charles,” he quipped.

“Succession,” a Shakespearean drama about a family betraying each other for control of a media empire, led the nominations ahead of Monday’s gala with 25, winning four awards overall.

Other big winners on the night were fellow HBO stablemate “The White Lotus,” which won a total of 10 Emmys including best limited series, and Apple TV+ comedy favorite “Ted Lasso,” again a winner for best comedy and best actor Jason Sudeikis. 

“Lotus,” a stylish satire on wealth and hypocrisy set in a luxury Hawaiian resort, scooped up two acting prizes as well as directing and writing honors, plus other technical awards.

The limited series award caps contenders at a single season, although “The White Lotus” is slightly bending the rules, having been recommissioned for a second go-around.

It beat out competition in the limited series category from shows recounting four real-life scandals, including “Dopesick,” a hard-hitting look at the US opioid crisis, and “The Dropout,” which recalls the Theranos fraud.

Michael Keaton and Amanda Seyfried won acting awards for their respective turns on “Dopesick” and “The Dropout.” 

But Netflix’s “Squid Game” made a statement with its six Emmys — beyond Lee, the series won for best directing, best guest drama actress Lee Yoo-mi and three other technical categories.

The wins cement its place in the so-called Korean Wave of popular entertainment, with superstar boy band BTS sweeping the charts and “Parasite” winning the top Oscar in recent years.

– ‘Great deal of progress’ –

The high glamour gala was a return to business as usual in Hollywood as the long awards season started with a bang for the first time in the stricter Covid-19 era.

Host Kenan Thompson opened the proceedings with a dance number set to a medley of hit TV show themes, including “Friends” and “Game of Thrones,” before bringing on talk show legend Oprah Winfrey, who lauded “the most successful broadcast medium in the world: television.”

There were few surprises throughout the night, with trophies spread around the usual suspects.

Zendaya repeated her feat as best actress in a drama for her turn in “Euphoria,” two years after she became the youngest ever winner in the category for the first season of HBO’s hard-hitting look at teenage life.

Hitmaker Lizzo, who made a serious fashion statement in a billowing red tulle dress, said her victory for “Watch Out For The Big Grrrls” in the competition program category represented a win for diversity.

“When I was a little girl, all I wanted to see was me in the media,” she said, the emotion clear on her face.

“Someone fat like me. Black like me. Beautiful like me. 

“If I could go back and tell a little Lizzo something, I’d be like, ‘You’re gonna see that person, but bitch, it’s going to have to be you.'”

Quinta Brunson took home her first Emmy for writing for ABC sitcom hit “Abbott Elementary” and co-star Sheryl Lee Ralph won for best supporting actress, celebrating with a verse of Dianne Reeves’ “Endangered Species.”

The show was a rare winner for traditional networks, along with perennial Emmys juggernaut “Saturday Night Live.”

Geena Davis’ Institute on Gender in Media won the special Governors Award, and the veteran actress took up Lizzo’s theme.

“Television can often directly impact how people see themselves and judge their value in the world,” she said. 

“We’ve made a great deal of progress, but still there’s more work to do.”

Monday’s ceremony marked a return to normality, after the Covid-19 crisis forced producers to get creative with remote and socially distanced editions in 2020 and 2021.

The show at a downtown Los Angeles theater was also the first major Hollywood awards ceremony since this year’s extraordinary Oscars, when Will Smith stunned the world by slapping Chris Rock over a joke about his wife.

Television’s biggest stars on Monday hit the red carpet — well, the gold carpet — for the Emmys, for the first full-fledged gala honoring the best of the small screen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

After a virtual ceremony in 2020 and a scaled-back show last year, gowns and tuxedos were de rigueur at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles, where the glitterati arrived in bright sunshine.

Here are some takeaways about who wore what at the Emmys: strapless dresses were big, as were metallics.

– Pretty in pink – 

For the first major Tinseltown awards show since the Oscars earlier this year, some of Hollywood’s A-list fashionistas opted for classic pretty in pink vibes.

Fashion house darling Elle Fanning, who was nominated for her work as Catherine the Great on “The Great,” wowed onlookers in a black strapless Sharon Long gown with a pink ruffled neckline and dramatic sweeping train with a pink lining.

Hannah Waddingham, a winner last year and nominee this year for comedy smash hit “Ted Lasso,” also embraced baby pink in a structured strapless Dolce & Gabbana corset dress that exploded in a puff of a full-length tulle skirt. 

And Connie Britton, one of the many acting nominees for HBO’s breakout dark comedy “The White Lotus,” rocked a floaty salmon-colored Monique Lhuillier gown with matching cape. 

– Shimmering metallics –

Glittering metallic fabrics are always a winner when one is hoping to end the night with a golden Emmys statuette.

And Quinta Brunson did just that.

The “Abbott Elementary” star and creator, who won an Emmy for writing the pilot of her breakout ABC sitcom, stunned the red carpet in a strapless brown Dolce & Gabbana gown with a bronze skirt and a daring thigh-high slit.

Britain’s Lily James, who was nominated for the role of bombshell actress Pamela Anderson in the limited series “Pam and Tommy,” wore a skin-tight bronze Versace gown with ruching at the waist.

And Sandra Oh, nominated for the final season of “Killing Eve,” slayed in a sequined sparkling purple suit with a matching blouse open to the navel.

“I want to channel my inner rock star, and I love Prince, and I love the color purple,” she told Variety on the red carpet.

Not to be left out, “Euphoria” star Colman Domingo — who won an Emmy for best guest actor in a drama — was on trend in a patterned D&G gold suit with a black see-through shirt.

– Go big or go home –

Zendaya, who repeated as best actress in a drama for raw teen series “Euphoria,” went for basic black — a strapless Valentino gown with a sweeping full skirt and pockets. Accessories? Diamonds, a black headband and a trophy.

Hitmaker Lizzo, whose series “Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls” won in the competition program category, made a serious fashion statement in a billowing red tulle dress.

Andrew Garfield, Seth Rogen, “Succession” star Nicholas Braun and singer John Legend all looked quite dapper in white — a bold look for a big return to Emmys red carpet style.

Here is a list of the winners in key categories for the 74th Emmy Awards, which were handed out in Los Angeles on Monday.

HBO’s “Succession” took top honors for best drama, “Ted Lasso” repeated for best comedy, and “The White Lotus” captured the Emmy for best limited series.

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES: “Succession”

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES: “Ted Lasso”

LEAD ACTOR, DRAMA: Lee Jung-jae, “Squid Game”

LEAD ACTRESS, DRAMA: Zendaya, “Euphoria”

LEAD ACTOR, COMEDY: Jason Sudeikis, “Ted Lasso”

LEAD ACTRESS, COMEDY: Jean Smart, “Hacks”

SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA: Matthew Macfadyen, “Succession”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA: Julia Garner, “Ozark”

SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY: Brett Goldstein, “Ted Lasso”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY: Sheryl Lee Ralph, “Abbott Elementary”

OUTSTANDING LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES: “The White Lotus”

LEAD ACTOR, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE: Michael Keaton, “Dopesick”

LEAD ACTRESS, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE: Amanda Seyfried, “The Dropout”

SUPPORTING ACTOR, LIMITED SERIES: Murray Bartlett, “The White Lotus”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, LIMITED SERIES: Jennifer Coolidge, “The White Lotus”

The US Department of Justice will accept the appointment of one of the judges proposed by Donald Trump as a “special master” in the investigation of classified documents seized from the former president’s Florida home last month, it said Monday.

Despite pushback from the department, federal judge Aileen Cannon agreed last week to grant Trump’s request to name an independent reviewer for the case, assigned to look over the hundreds of classified documents taken from his Mar-a-Lago resort in an FBI raid August 8.

Trump is facing mounting legal pressure, with the Justice Department saying top-secret documents were “likely concealed” to obstruct an FBI probe into his potential mishandling of classified materials.

He has denied all wrongdoing, saying the raid was “one of the most egregious assaults on democracy in the history of our country.”

On Friday, Trump’s legal team and the Justice Department each submitted to Judge Cannon the names of two candidates for the role.

But in a court filing earlier Monday, Trump rejected both of the government’s nominations.

The department said in its own court filing later Monday that it would agree to the appointment of Trump suggestion Judge Raymond Dearie, from the Eastern District of New York, in addition to its own nominees.

Justice officials had originally suggested retired federal judges Barbara Jones and Thomas Griffith, and said they would accept any of the three due to their “previous federal judicial experience and engagement in relevant areas of law.”

The filing also noted the department “respectfully opposes the appointment of Paul Huck, Jr,” the Trump team’s second nominee, a federal judge from Florida, “who does not appear to have similar experience.”

Trump’s legal team did not include the reason for rejecting Jones and Griffith in its filing, saying “it is more respectful to the candidates from either party to withhold the bases for opposition from a public, and likely to be widely circulated, pleading.” 

It is now up to Cannon to choose whether to name 78-year-old Dearie to the case.

Government attorneys previously opposed Trump’s special master request all together, arguing that an independent screening for privileged material could harm national security, and was also unnecessary as a team had already completed a screening.

In addition to the documents probe, Trump faces investigations in New York into his business practices, as well as legal scrutiny over his efforts to overturn results of the 2020 election, and for the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by his supporters. 

Television honored its biggest stars in Los Angeles on Monday with a gowns-and-tuxedos Emmys gala, back at full strength for the first time in the age of Covid-19.

Host Kenan Thompson opened the proceedings with a dance number set to a medley of hit TV show themes, including “Friends” and “Game of Thrones,” before bringing on talk show legend Oprah Winfrey, who lauded “the most successful broadcast medium in the world: television.”

There were few surprises in the first half of the show, with trophies spread around among popular dramas “Succession” and “Ozark,” limited series “The White Lotus,” and comedy hit “Ted Lasso,” among others.

Hitmaker Lizzo, who made a serious fashion statement in a billowing red tulle dress, said her victory for “Watch Out For The Big Grrrls” in the competition program category was a win for diversity.

“When I was a little girl, all I wanted to see was me in the media,” she said, the emotion clear on her face.

“Someone fat like me. Black like me. Beautiful like me. 

“If I could go back and tell a little Lizzo something, I’d be like, ‘You’re gonna see that person, but bitch, it’s going to have to be you.'”

“The White Lotus,” a satire on wealth and hypocrisy set in a luxury Hawaiian resort, scooped up two acting prizes as well as directing and writing honors, for a total of nine overall.

Emmy behemoth “Succession” had one in the early running, with Matthew Macfadyen recognized for best supporting actor.

But all eyes were on the drama categories and “Squid Game,” the South Korean sneak hit in which misfits and criminals compete for cash in barbaric and deadly versions of schoolyard games.

The Netflix show is hoping to emulate the success of Oscar-winning South Korean movie “Parasite” with a triumph at TV’s top prize gala.

It faces tough competition from previous winner “Succession,” the tale of a family vying for control of a media empire — rife with Shakespearean backstabbing — that earned the most nominations overall at 25.

“It’s pretty hard to go against that HBO juggernaut,” said Pete Hammond, awards columnist for Hollywood publication Deadline.

Experts polled by awards prediction site Gold Derby have tipped “Succession” as the favorite.

“I do think (‘Squid Game’) is going to win best actor,” noted Hammond — an outcome that would make Lee Jung-jae the category’s first winner for a non-English performance.

The South Korean series has already tasted Emmys victory, with four trophies at a pre-gala event at which many statuettes are awarded in minor categories, including one for Lee Yoo-mi for best guest actress in a drama.

Other shows contending for the night’s top drama prizes include Apple TV+ dystopian workplace series “Severance,” starring Adam Scott, and the final season of Netflix’s much-lauded crime saga “Ozark.”

Zendaya, who became the youngest-ever best actress winner two years ago for HBO’s hard-hitting teen drama “Euphoria,” is tipped to repeat.

– Sudeikis vs Hader –

Best comedy series looks like an open goal for season two of Apple TV+’s fish-out-of-water soccer coach “Ted Lasso.” 

In the best actor category, star Jason Sudeikis is up against Bill Hader, whose dark hitman comedy “Barry” returns from a three-year absence.

Jean Smart is heavily tipped to repeat as best comedy actress for “Hacks,” in which she plays an aging Las Vegas diva forced to reinvent her dated stand-up routine.

Offering some fresh blood are the nominees in the limited series section, which honors shows capped at a single season.

Four of the five contenders chronicle real-life scandals.

“Dopesick” looks at the US opioid crisis, “The Dropout” recounts the Theranos fraud, “Pam and Tommy” recalls an infamous celebrity sex tape and “Inventing Anna” is inspired by a Russian con artist who scammed upper-crust New York.

Michael Keaton won for “Dopesick” and Amanda Seyfried took home an Emmy for her portrayal of disgraced Theranos boss Elizabeth Holmes.

Geena Davis’ Institute on Gender in Media won the special Governors Award.

“Television can often directly impact how people see themselves and judge their value in the world,” she said. 

“We’ve made a great deal of progress, but still there’s more work to do.”

– ‘The Slap’ –

Monday’s ceremony marked a return to normality, after the Covid-19 crisis forced producers to get creative with remote and socially distanced editions in 2020 and 2021.

The show at a downtown Los Angeles theater is also the first major Hollywood awards ceremony since this year’s extraordinary Oscars.

Back in March, Will Smith stunned viewers by slapping Chris Rock live on stage for cracking a joke about his wife.

Emmy organizers said they didn’t expect a repeat.

“I can’t imagine that lightning will strike twice,” Television Academy head Frank Scherma told Deadline.

Ramsey Lewis, the renowned jazz pianist who made a 1960s pop crossover that saw him become an unexpected hitmaker, died Monday. He was 87 years old.

The three-time Grammy-award winning artist’s wife Jan announced the news via a publicist, saying Lewis died “peacefully at his home in Chicago.”

A lifelong Chicagoan, the artist was born there on May 27, 1935, getting an early start on the keys with lessons and performances at church, where his father, an avid jazz fan himself, directed the choir.

In 1956 Lewis released his debut album with his trio that included bassist Eldee Young and drummer Redd Holt.

They became well-known in jazz circles, performing at the Newport Jazz Festival as well as the Village Vanguard.

In 1965, Lewis became a sensation overnight with the trio’s unexpected smash “The ‘In’ Crowd,” an instrumental rendition of Dobie Gray’s popular Motown song that came out months earlier.

The Ramsey Lewis Trio recorded their jazz-inflected take live at the Washington night club Bohemian Caverns, after which the song broke into the Billboard top songs chart — a rarity for jazz in a world whose airwaves were dominated by sugary pop, rock and R&B.

They found similar success with two more singles, a funkified version of “Hang On Sloopy” by the McCoys, which also won a Grammy, and “A Hard Day’s Night” from the Beatles.

Lewis’ bandmates moved on to form their own group and he teamed up with Cleveland Eaton and Maurice White — who later founded Earth, Wind & Fire. The trio found success on the charts once more in 1966 with a rendition of “Wade in the Water,” a traditional spiritual.

Lewis did not become a pop mainstay but found success in the jazz world for decades, recording some 80 albums over his lifetime and earning the US National Endowment for the Arts highest honor in 2007.

He was known for his experimentation on the electronic keyboards and fusion music, as well as R&B and Latin music.

He was also a radio personality, hosting his own show on jazz. 

“Ramsey’s passion for music was truly fueled by the love and dedication of his fans across the globe,” his wife said in a statement. “He loved touring and meeting music lovers from so many cultures and walks of life.”

“It was our family’s great pleasure to share Ramsey in this special way with all those who admired his God-given talents.”