Emmys producer Jesse Collins said the In Memoriam segment is 'one of the hardest parts of the show.'
Producers for the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards ran a smooth operation on Monday night to honor the best in primetime television programming but there were still some criticism, most notably the omission of high-profile figures like Jerry Springer for the show's In Memoriam segment.
Emmys producer Jesse Collins admitted to ET's Kevin Frazier in a Zoom interview on Tuesday that producing that particular segment is "one of the hardest parts of the show." The segment featured Charlie Puth joined onstage by the husband-wife R&B duo The War and Treaty to sing Puth's hit, "See You Again."
And as the Emmys memorialized the likes of Norman Lear, Angela Lansbury, Bob Barker, Barbara Walters and Andre Braugher, among others, one particularly moving tribute honored Friends star Matthew Perry, who died at his home on Oct. 28, 2023, at age 54. Perry was a five-time Emmy nominee, and enjoyed an acclaimed television career that left an indelible mark on the entertainment landscape.
But when the video montage tribute ended, viewers noticed a handful of figures were not included.
Among those omitted included Springer, Ryan O'Neal, Tom Wilkinson, Raquel Welch, Julian Sands, Al Brown and Charles Kimbrough, among others. ET spoke with Collins the day after the Emmys to get insight on who is selected for the video montage tribute.
"The selection process is handled by the Television Academy, so we focus more on the creative side of it," Collins tells ET. "And it's just about making sure that when we are acknowledging someone we give them their just due and it's respectful and loving, and we just try to make sure that we accomplish that. And putting Charlie and War and Treaty together, their voices are just spectacular."
Springer, the iconic TV host whose show debuted in 1991 and aired in syndication until 2018, died in April 2023.
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