The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has taken back at least three dozen Emmy Awards that were won by fake ESPN employees, then re-engraved and given to hosts who were ineligible for the awards, according to a report in The Athletic. …

At the time of the show’s victories, on-air talent was prohibited from winning outside of individual categories to “prevent front-facing talent from winning two awards for the same work (termed “double-dipping” in the NATAS rulebook),” The Athletic reports.

In an attempt to honor on-air talent, however, ESPN executives included employees with names “similar to the names of on-air personalities – and with identical initials,” according to Katie Strang’s report.

[The amount of narcissism and hubris here is breathtaking. ESPN did this to get awards for its ON AIR talent and top producers, which were highly paid and feted by other media already. By doing this, one presumes that these awards were essentially stolen from off-camera personnel on other shows and networks whom the awards were INTENDED to honor. ESPN and its Disney parent owes many people an apology for this corrupt practice, and everyone who accepted these awards should apologize too. And that’s not all, either … How about this question from Dirk Belligerent?– Ed]

The scandal isn't the fake names; it's that the Emmy voters just voted for whatever w/o knowing what they were voting for.

It's like how 12 Years A Slave – or as I call it, "White Guilt Oscar Winner" – won Best Picture when many voters admitted they never watched the screener.

— Dirk Belligerent – "As Seen On Internet"🐊 (@DirkBelig) January 12, 2024