Emmy Awards

Jimmy Kimmel's Emmys joke about Johnnie Cochran has enraged a famous lawyer Johnny mentored.

Carl Douglas lashed out at Kimmel, who talked smack on O.J.'s real lawyer after Courtney B. Vance won Best Actor in a Limited Series. Kimmel said, "I have to believe Johnnie Cochran is smiling up at us tonight."

The idea that Cochran went to hell for repping O.J. was too much for Douglas to bear, saying, "That was a terribly offensive joke that Jimmy Kimmel made about my mentor and hero Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr."

"Modern Family" star Ty Burrell ain't messin' around when it comes to his beloved football team ... saying if it comes down to the Rams gettin' a W ... or winning an Emmy, he's blue and gold all day.

Whitney Houston's estate and the Whitney fan who already bid $10,000 for her 1986 Emmy are both outta luck -- a federal judge has shut down an auction for the trophy.

Heritage Auctions had put the statuette up for grabs, but TMZ broke the story ... the Television Academy opposed the auction, citing its rule that all Emmys must be returned to them if the winner or winner's heirs no longer want it.

Heritage was hawking the Emmy on behalf of Whitney's estate, but the Academy sought and was granted a temporary restraining order to prevent the live auction from going down Friday.

The online auction had already begun, and as we told you ... someone put up a $10k bid. Sorry, Charlie.

Whitney Houston's Emmy award will NOT be auctioned off without a fight ... the Television Academy just filed a lawsuit accusing Heritage Auctions of theft.

TMZ broke the story ... the Academy is trying to block Heritage from putting the statuette on the block -- on behalf of Whitney's family -- claiming it contractually MUST be returned to the Academy.

In the docs -- filed in L.A. and obtained by TMZ -- the Academy included the sticker it says has been affixed to the bottom of EVERY Emmy handed out between 1978 to 1994. Whitney won hers in 1986.

The sticker makes it clear the statuette is the Academy's property and the winner's heirs are "obligated to return" it ... as opposed to selling it or throwing it away.

Whitney Houston's only Emmy award is about to go up for auction IF Emmy honchos fail in their last ditch effort to block the sale ... TMZ has learned.

The Television Academy says it's going into court Wednesday morning to request a restraining order against Heritage Auctions ... which plans to put Whitney's 1986 Emmy statuette up for grabs on Friday.

Heritage is hawking the award on behalf of Whitney's estate -- but the Television Academy has strict rules about its awards. According to the Academy, all winners sign an agreement that their heirs or successors must "return the statuette to the Academy, and we hold it in storage in memory of the recipient.”

A rep for Heritage tells TMZ ... they've asked the Academy multiple times to produce Whitney's signature on that agreement, but no dice to this point. Heritage says it's moving forward unless a judge drops the hammer.

They expect the award to sell for upwards of $10,000. By the way, Whitney won the Emmy for her performance on the Grammys. Weird, right?

Emmy award winning TV director Alex Graves has finally hashed out a divorce settlement with his wife of 19 years ... and the split was pretty much even-steven.

Wife Sarah got half of the income from all his shows ... a pretty penny since Alex's resume boasts 2 Emmy wins for "The West Wing" and episodes of "Game of Thrones." His credits also include stints behind the lens on "The Practice," "Fringe," "Ally McBeal," and "Shameless."

That's not all ... Alex has to pay Sarah $8,625 per month in spousal support, plus a bonus if he earns more than $425k a year.

The couple will have joint custody of their two teenage children. Alex must cough up $5,657 a month in child support.

The estate of 'Simpsons' co-creator Sam Simon wants to unload 2 handfuls worth of his Emmys, but the people at the Emmys ain't havin' it ... TMZ has learned.

Simon passed away last year and his foundation listed 10 Emmys -- which he won for "The Simpsons" and "The Tracey Ullman Show" -- through the Abell Auction Company.

They could go for $2,500 - $6,000 each ... however, the Academy of Television says it's the rightful owner of those awards. A rep for the Academy tells us a winner's heirs or successors must "return the statuette to the Academy, and we hold it in storage in memory of the recipient.” Those are the rules.

The Academy broke that news to Simon's estate, and as of Monday morning ... the Emmys have been pulled off the block.

The auction's still going down February 21 and will include pieces from Sam's art collection, like Picasso lithographs and a mini "Thinker" -- but your shot at a 'Simpsons' Emmy is officially dead.

Kanye West, the same guy who went on an EPIC anti-award show rant thinks the entire Kardashian clan deserves multiple Emmys for being pioneers in the reality show world.

In an interview with SHOWstudio, Yeezy relates Caitlyn's public transition and how new it was to society to rappers Run-D.M.C. and Will Smith. He says rappers weren't accepted into high class society at first because it was a new concept -- just like Caitlyn's transition.

He then goes on about "Keeping up with the Kardashians." The good stuff starts around 1:02:21 ... Kanye says the reality show was such a ground-breaking "art form" that it deserves multiple Emmys for starting a whole new genre.

We'll leave that up to the Academy.

Uzo Aduba flew coach to NYC after winning a Best Supporting Actress Emmy, but not because she didn't want to spring for a first class ticket ... she gave her seat to a woman in pain ... her mom.

The "Orange is the New Black" star got on the plane Monday and settled into her "flatbed seat" in the front of the plane. But there was a problem.

Seems whoever booked the flight got her a first class ticket but not the others in her party, including her mom, who had surgery and is walking with a cane.

Uzo walked back to coach to see her mom and then did the switch. She sat there for 5 hours, in the company of her Emmy.

Lucky mom to have Uzo as a daughter.

You'd think having the name Andy Samberg has its perks -- after all, the 'SNL' vet just hosted the Emmys -- but it's turned a namesake into a target of hate.

Andy Sandberg, a Tony Award-winning producer, says his Twitter account has been flooded since Sunday night by haters who went on a mission to trash Samberg for his jokes about Donald Trump and Kim Davis.

Turns out Samberg the comedian doesn't tweet from his own Twitter account ... he uses The Lonely Island account. The real problem here ... people don't know how to spell Samberg's last name.

It's been going on for years ... Sandberg says he gets Samberg's fan mail and pleas to audition for "Brooklyn Nine-Nine." He's even gotten a residual check ... but he didn't open it.

Sandberg also says he barely watched the Emmys. Join the crowd.

Now we know why Dave Grohl was so pissed about the Foo Fighters getting yanked from the Emmy Awards stage -- and it's all about size. Yes, it matters ... especially at award shows.

A rep for Grohl tells TMZ ... the band was all set to perform, and would have been the first ever rock band to play the Emmys. But the rep says, "FOX then refused to allow the band to play a full song from the Emmy-winning Sonic Highways."

According to our sources, the network wanted the band to play half of their winning song and then play part of their hit song "Learn to Fly" ... but the band wasn't having it.

We're told the directive came straight from the network and not the television academy, who was on board with the band's plan to play what they wanted to.

FF won 2 Emmys for its HBO docuseries, but you can tell from his reaction last night ... Dave wanted to play, but obviously ... he wanted it his way.

We have a call in to FOX and the Emmys for their side of the story.

Terrence Howard was weirdly in an armlock at the Emmys with one of his divorced wives, and they were both wearing wedding bling.

Mira Pak was clutching Terrence's arm as they mugged for the camera.

Terrence and Mira were married on October 2013, but she filed for divorce this March. She gave birth to their son 2 months later. The divorce became final in July.

So it's surprising that not only are they together, they're wearing rings.

Dave Grohl is annoyed at the very least and more likely pissed the Emmys booked the Foo Fighters to perform and then cancelled.

The group actually won 2 Creative Arts Emmys earlier this month for their HBO docuseries "Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways." Dave was a no-show for Sunday night's ceremony, and it's apparent why.

George R. R. Martin got a big surprise -- or 2 -- on his 67th birthday.

Martin, whose birthday was Sunday, hit up the HBO Emmys after-party last night at the Pacific Design Center, where around the stroke of midnight his wife surprised him with a birthday cake, which we believe is an awesome berry cake from Sweet Lady Jane.

George already got his big gift earlier in the evening ... he won his first Emmy for "Game of Thrones" -- he's been nominated 5 times for the series as a co-executive producer for Outstanding Drama Series.

Celebs did not call it a night after the sleep-inducing Emmy ceremony.

We got a bunch of stars, including (in order) Amy Schumer, Elisabeth Moss, Michael Kelly, Fred Armisen and Natasha Lyonne, Jeffrey Tambour, Claire Danes, "Daily Show" producers, Titus Burgess, Lea DeLaria and Ricky Gervais.

A good after-party night had by all.

Tracy Morgan made his first big public appearance since his accident in June 2014 ... presenting the award for Best Drama Series at Sunday night's Emmy Awards.

Morgan spoke from the heart -- thanking his family and doctors -- and even cracked a few jokes as only he can.

The "30 Rock" star was in a coma for eight days following a car accident on June 7, 2014 when his vehicle was struck by a trailer operated by Walmart.

Since his recovery, Morgan has settled his lawsuit against Walmart, got married, and will host "Saturday Night Live" next month.