At the Emmys, like all other awards shows, there’s a certain order to things. Nominees are announced and when one of them gets the honor of going up, grabbing a trophy, and getting played off while thanking their mother or preferred political candidate, the non-winners (who are all still fabulous and wealthy) maintain smiles while applauding and dying a little inside. And that’s how we get through awards shows without fist fights.
Feud actress Jackie Hoffman wasn’t about to follow the script when she lost to Big Little Lies actress Laura Dern, though. Before the Emmys, Hoffman jokingly made it known that she was willing to accept for any of the other nominees should they win. It was a nod to Joan Crawford’s own antics when she got snubbed while her rival, Betty Davis, got an Oscar nomination for the film Whatever Happened To Baby Jane, which they were both in. Davis and Crawford’s rivalry was, of course, the focus of the first season of Feud. As you can see in the above video, Hoffman never got the OK from Dern to grab her trophy for her, but she did draw eyes in the split second before the camera turned to Dern for her acceptance speech.
It’s hard to tell what Hoffman is saying. Maybe she’s yelling “Damn right! Damn right!” because she’s a DernBurner (completely made up label for the presently nameless masses who love and respect Laura Dern). Or, maybe it’s something else. Either way, the stunt wasn’t quite as disruptive as Kanye V. T-Swift (and it’s probably not the kind of thing that will inspire a pop music retort in a few years from Dern), but it was funny and a refreshing change of pace. I hope Hoffman accepts this minor praise as a trophyless consolation prize.
