Emmy Awards

This is awesome.

EA Sports -- starting later this month -- is adding Ted Lasso to FIFA '23 ... AND his team, AFC Richmond, the video game maker announced on Wednesday.

"Believe it. #FIFA23 x @TedLasso He's proven he belongs in the game, now Ted Lasso and @AFCRichmond are playable in FIFA 23 starting September 30," EA tweeted.

In an official news release, EA said Lasso -- famously played by Jason Sudekis -- will be a playable manager in Career Mode on FIFA '23.

In addition to Lasso, FIFA players can manage AFC Richmond -- Lasso's team in the hit show -- in FIFA's Premier League or any other playable Career Mode.

The Emmy award-winning show follows the story of Lasso, an American football coach in London charged with leading a struggling English Premier League football (soccer) team.

According to IMDB, the comedy-drama won 11 Primetime Emmys and received 40 total nominations.

Keegan-Michael Key joined a very lucky group on the TMZ Celebrity Tour ... offerin' up advice on how award shows can evolve so comedy bits don't drag people down.

Keegan hopped on our bus in Bev Hills ... and as his wife and writing partner Elle kicked it on the sidewalk, he offered up some tips on cringe-worthy humor during these awards shows.

KMK put it plainly -- you can make a killer joke that has a positive message ... but bringing someone down should be out of bounds.

He's pretty clearly referring to last week's Emmys ... where Jimmy Kimmel was dragged for "passing out" on stage as Quinta Brunson accepted her award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.

After finishing his TMZ Tour "Ted Talk," he entertained passengers with a throwback from 'Key & Peele' ... breaking out his substitute teacher character that he debuted a decade ago!!!

Jimmy Kimmel knows how to read the room, so he was quick to apologize to Quinta Brunson for his Emmys bit gone flat.

Quinta appeared on Jimmy's show Wednesday night, and he effusively expressed his regrets for overshadowing Quinta, who snagged a trophy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.

As you know, Will Arnett dragged Jimmy out onstage as Kimmel pretended he was passed-out drunk and he lay there as Will read the noms, announced Quinta as the winner and while Quinta gave her acceptance speech.

Jimmy was ready from the jump for a big mea culpa. As soon as Quinta sat down on the couch, Jimmy went right into apology mode ... "it was a dumb comedy bit that we thought would be funny." In other words, he's now in on the non-joke.

Then Jimmy joked..."I lost, and then I drank too much, and I had to be dragged out on the stage. And then people got upset. They said that I stole your moment, and maybe I did. I'm very sorry if I did do that — I'm sorry I did do that, actually."

Quinta was more than gracious, essentially saying it didn't bother her ..."I was honestly in such a moment of having a good time, like I won my first Emmy! I was up there happy, and I was wrapped up in the moment."

Fact is ... Quinta and Jimmy have history. He was an early supporter of her, bringing her on his show and singing her praises.

Olivia Newton-John's publicist is fuming the late singer and actress was excluded from the "In Memoriam" tribute at the Emmys ... insisting she absolutely deserved to be honored.

Michael Caprio, Olivia's publicist of 24 years, tells TMZ ... while the family is still grieving and not commenting at this time, he was personally very disappointed by the snub.

Michael feels the decision wasn't right, given Olivia's extensive track record in Hollywood and especially on TV ... including acting in TV movies like "A Mom For Christmas" as well as appearing on "American Idol," "RuPaul's Drag Race," "Murphy Brown," "Glee" and 'DWTS.'

He also noted, Olivia had ton of TV specials like ABC’s "A Special Olivia Newton-John" and "Olivia Physical."

ICYMI, the 2022 Emmys faced a ton of backlash when viewers noticed Olivia and other stars were left out of the annual segment dedicated to stars who died within the last year.

The tribute included legends such as Betty White, Bob Saget, Ray Liotta, Anne Heche and Sidney Poitier ... and naturally folks were shocked after noticing Olivia was missing.

As we've reported, Olivia died in August -- at the age of 73 -- after a long battle with breast cancer, and, obviously, was a household name in Hollywood and around the world.

Jimmy Kimmel has come under some serious fire online after many believe a skit he and Will Arnett performed as presenters stole the spotlight from winner Quinta Brunson.

Arnett and Kimmel presented the award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series at Monday night's Emmy Awards. Arnett dragged a "passed out" Kimmel onto the stage and laid his body out next to the microphone stand while he explained the late night host had too many margaritas backstage.

Once Arnett called Brunson's name as the winner, and she came to the stage, Kimmel continued to carry on with the gag -- even after Brunson jokingly exclaimed, "Jimmy, wake up. I won."

Jimmy laid super close to Brunson as she gave her speech, making it nearly impossible for the show's directors to get a shot of her without him in it.

Twitter exploded after the moment, with users pointing out how disrespectful Kimmel's decision came across, including, "Jimmy Kimmel owes Quinta an apology but the messed up part is every image of her accepting her award has his ass in it. White men really are insufferable."

Another said, "White male privilege is laying on the ground & expecting a Black woman to just step around you while she accepts her hard-earned award."

Yeah, the Emmy Awards are all about taking home one of those statues, but it's not a total loss if ya don't get one ... 'cause there's always the after-party!!!

Netflix hosted their Emmy night affair at Milk Studios and some of the winners who pulled up to celebrate included Julia Garner and Jason Bateman from "Ozark" and Kim Ji-yeon and Oh Young-soo from "Squid Games".

"Squid Games" star Lee Jung-jae took a moment to flick it up with Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos ... while still clenching his Emmy for Best Male Actor in a drama, the first Asian actor to do so.

"Stranger Things" creator Matt Duffer and star Charlie Heaton were also at the Netflix bash, even though most of the show's cast skipped the award show.

The HBO Max after party, held at San Vicente Bungalows, was just as popping.

"Succession" star Nicholas Braun and "White Lotus" producer David Bernad hit up the reception ... as well as Maude Apatow and Sydney Sweeney from the hit series "Euphoria".

Braun's costars -- Jeremy Strong and Matthew Macfadyen were also looking to cut loose ... after all the "Succession" cast scored the Emmy for Best Drama.

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" stars Larry David and Cheryl Hines also made sure to celebrate the night with HBO.

The 2022 Emmys are over, and it's clear a memo went out before the affair kicked off -- wear black or white, and most of the attendees fell in line.

We're joking about the memo, but it's true celebs were all smiles Monday night at the Microsoft Theater in downtown L.A., and also all kinda matchy.

Those on theme included Reese Witherspoon and Laura Linney, Sydney Sweeney and Zendaya, Matthew Macfadyen and Nicholas Braun, Andrew Garfield and Martin Short, Steve Martin and Selena Gomez, Hannah Waddingham and Brett Goldstein, Seth Rogen and Julia Garner ... and a lot more.

A lot of the gents in the room wore simple black and white tuxes -- so in many ways, it was a pretty traditional fashion affair, but the number of people in straight-up black and white definitely caught the eye.

Everyone looked great, and obviously brought out their best 'fits. It just seems they all hopped on a conference call together, 'cause very few people broke the unofficial dress code.

Jennifer Coolidge punked the Emmys in spectacular fashion Monday night ... when she defied the orchestra that was trying to get her off the stage and turned the whole thing into a dance party!!!

Jennifer won the richly-deserved award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series and at first, seemed a little flummoxed ... she says she swelled up after taking a lavender bath ... so much so she barely got into her Emmy getup and had trouble speaking.

She was hysterical ... seemingly rattled as she ticked off the people she wanted to thank.

Then, the dreaded orchestra started to play her off, but Jen wasn't having it. She made it clear this could be a "once-in-a-lifetime" moment and wasn't about to go quietly.

The band then pivoted to more lively music, and rather than taking the hint, she busted a move that sent the audience into an uproar of laughter. It was Ferris-Bueller-like as other celebs in their seats started to feel the beat in solidarity!

Jason Sudeikis thanked his kids at the Emmys -- reminding folks he's in a nasty custody battle with Olivia Wilde, perhaps unintentionally.

The actor was delivering an acceptance speech Monday after his show, "Ted Lasso," won for Outstanding Comedy Series ... and toward the end, he name-dropped his young son and daughter, Otis and Daisy.

It sorta flew under the radar, as not everyone knows his children's names by heart -- but it was there ... and if you've been following along, it may run deeper than a simple shout-out.

As you know, both Jason and Olivia have been at war lately over where their kids should live, and how much time they spend with each parent -- a case that's not yet settled, but which has had a lot of bumps along the way ... including a public serving of documents earlier this year.

A process server, acting on Jason's behalf, dropped legal docs at Olivia's feet while she was presenting for her new movie at CinemaCon -- something she later called "vicious."

JS denied having planned it to happen that way deliberately, but OW thinks otherwise. In the end, Olivia walked away with a win ... getting a judge to side with her that their custody case should be heard in L.A. and not New York, which is where Jason wanted to hash things out.

None of that drama was on display, though, when Jason was speaking ... he was all smiles with his cast onstage, and didn't further allude to the fight with Olivia whatsoever. Although, he might have been wondering if he was about to get served.

BTW ... Jason took his good vibes and carried them on outside the venue. We ran into him on the street after the show, and the dude was totally engaging with fans ... snapping selfies and signing a ton of autographs. He even gave 'em some life advice.

Murray Bartlett is going up against his own guys at the Emmys this year -- and while you might think he'd be a little competitive ... the guy's just here for a good time.

We got the Aussie actor -- who's the lead star of HBO's hit limited series, "White Lotus" -- just as he was arriving in L.A. for Monday's television award show ... and our walk-and-talk interview with him is absolutely awesome.

Check it out ... MB is radiating pure joy as he leaves LAX with a baggage handler in tow -- telling us he's super excited to be nominated, even if it means fellow 'Lotus' actors beat him.

If you didn't know, Jake Lacy and Steve Zahn -- who also appears in "White Lotus" -- are nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series as well ... but Murray's just as happy for them as he is for himself. We tell him he's the favorite to win, and the dude is completely humble.

Murray tells us he and the rest of the cast are out to party it up and celebrate the show's success, regardless of who wins. Fact is, at least one of them is due to walk away with a statuette -- because the series was so popular ... and the performances were top-notch.

We also think we might've learned what Murry's secret to success is ... and it seems to come down to what he's munching on. The old adage is true, and then some!

Adele's simply looking to celebrate her big Emmy win ... but her fans think there's something much bigger to toast, because of something she posted ... something that makes them think she and Rich Paul have said: "I Do."

The singer was "pleased as punch" to be one step closer to EGOT status Monday, winning Outstanding Variety Special for her TV concert, "Adele: One Night Only" -- and one image of her shiny new statuette shows a personalized game box also on the table.

The box, holding what appears to be game tiles, reads "The Paul's." So, while Adele was happy about her big win, the comments section was obviously flooded with other questions -- with one straight up asking "is you married?!"

She has yet to respond to the noise, despite the post already getting over 2.7M likes ... but as you know, Adele and Rich have been going strong publicly for over a year now, after meeting a few years back.

She moved in with Rich in May ... and even responded to engagement rumors in an interview with ELLE UK last month -- saying she "might as well be married."

Eminem's been in the game so long, it's getting hard to recall some pretty epic moments ... and Shady's slim memory was on full display during a recent hang with Snoop Dogg.

The 2 legendary Super Bowl LVI performers were chilling in a studio to promote their recent collab “From The D 2 The LBC” … when Snoop brought up Eminem’s cameo in Dr. Dre’s “Still D.R.E.”

The single was famously written by Jay-Z, and the video directed by Hype Williams featured a pre-superstar Em chasing a flock of groupies. While that might sound like a precious memory to most of us … Em totally blanked.

It’s also one of the few rap videos with a billion views on YouTube …so, it’s a big deal!

Snoop kept trying to jog Em’s memory … and eventually, his brain did get up and running. Hey, considering the insane career run he's had since 1999 when the video was shot, it’s okay for him to have a few lapses every now and then.

Both Em and Snoop have been collaborating for years, and recently helped Dre cement their legacies with the Super Bowl halftime show performance in L.A.

Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak were there too and the performance earned five Primetime Emmy noms.

Their latest joint is locked in for Em’s “Curtain Call 2” -- his second greatest hits collection -- and he’s going with an arcade game theme for the project’s rollout.

Dave Chappelle getting an Emmy nomination for a stand-up special some call transphobic is emboldening the transgender community -- but not so much in the way you might think.

We spoke to Ashlee Marie Preston in L.A. to get her reaction to the comedian getting a Primetime Emmy nod for Netflix's "The Closer" -- which, as you know, was the subject of much controversy last year ... and even spurred Netflix employee walkouts in protest.

Preston -- who isn't a Netflix employee, but still helped organize the walkout -- tells us she and other members of the transgender and queer community have an action plan ... the details of which she's purposely keeping under wraps, but promises we'll see soon as a response.

Give the clip a watch ... it sounds like Ashlee and Co. are about to roll out a campaign or an announcement of sorts that advocates for LGBT-friendly content -- something she says the industry needs more of to help combat the POVs Dave expressed in "Closer," which she considers harmful.

Preston also tells us that instead of focusing on Chappelle ... she encourages anyone who supports their cause to turn their attention to Emmy nominees who help tell their story -- folks like Bowen Yang and others, who are also up for awards this year.

It's also interesting to hear Preston's approach this time around -- rather than being triggered and reacting in haste, she and her colleagues appear to be going about the response much more strategically.

Jennifer Hudson is in rare company today after winning a Tony award, she's joined some huge celebs who've won 4 major entertainment awards ... aka the EGOT.

The Jennifer-produced musical "A Strange Loop" took home the trophy for Best Musical during Sunday night's 75th Annual Tony Awards ... giving her the final piece of the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony pie.

Jennifer had previously nabbed 2 Grammy Awards, one for Best R&B Album in 2009 album and another in 2017 for Best Musical Theater Album for The Color Purple.

She won her Oscar in 2006 for Best Supporting Actress in "Dreamgirls" ... and a Daytime Emmy for producing the VR-animated film "Baby Yaga."

Jennifer is going down in history as the 17th person to get all 4 awards ... and she's the 3rd youngest ever to get it done, behind John Legend and composer Robert Lopez.

The former "American Idol" star's musical "A Strange Loop" follows a black, queer writer writing a musical about a black, queer writer writing a musical about a black, queer writer. Ya get the title now, right?

The meta-musical's been getting rave reviews since it launched off-Broadway in 2019.

Actor Robert Morse, best known for his work on "Mad Men," has died.

Morse's death was confirmed Wednesday, though his cause of death is currently unknown.

The actor's work on "Mad Men," playing Bertram Cooper for 74 episodes, got him 5 Emmy nominations over its 8 years on the air. Bertram, or Bert, was one of the founding partners of the Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency, where the show takes place.

Always dressed with a bow tie, Bert reluctantly agreed to a merger with British agency Puttnam, Powell, and Lowe ... he would then go on to be a founding partner of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.

The character would die the night after watching the televised Apollo 11 moon landing ... Bert appeared after his passing in one of Don Draper's visions, played by Jon Hamm.

The Tony and Emmy-award-winning actor left behind a career on both stage and screen, steadily working for 6 decades. He got his start on Broadway in the '60s with a production of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" ... his performance snagged him a Tony for Best Actor in a Musical.

He went on to win another best actor Tony award as Truman Capote in the 1990 play "Tru" ... for which he got an Emmy for Leading Actor in a Limited Series.

After "Mad Men," Morse came back to Broadway, working with Nathan Lane in the 2016 revival of "The Front Page."

Tributes have been pouring, including one from Larry Karaszewski, the VP on the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who called Morse "a huge talent and a beautiful spirit."

Broadway composer David Krane also paid tribute, saying "He had those cool, clear eyes of a seeker of wisdom and truth. Wishing that eternal boy eternal peace in his new forever home. He succeeded without really trying."

Morse is survived by his wife Elizabeth Roberts and his 4 children -- Charlie, Robin, Hilary, and Andrea.

He was 90.

Michael K. Williams' family is convinced a posthumous Oscar and Emmy is in the cards ... based on not-yet-released projects he starred in before his tragic passing.

Dominic Dupont, Michael's nephew, tells TMZ ... while the family's bummed Michael didn't win Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for "Lovecraft Country," they're hopeful a few upcoming projects could clinch him the coveted gold statues.

For starters, Dominic points to two upcoming films Michael starred in ... the Indi thriller "892" and Civil War-era drama "Surrounded." Dominic hasn't screened either film but believes the flicks give Michael a chance for an Oscar. As for why Dominic feels this way ... he says it's because Michael had the unparalleled ability to bring characters to life.

As for a future Emmy ... Dominic says his role in season 2 of the Vice TV docuseries "Black Market" could sway voters. Dominic, who traveled with Michael during the filming of "Black Market," says after 5 Emmy nominations ... everything teed up for an Emmy win next year.

Dominic says everyone at the Emmys was gracious to him and his wife ... and that they felt Michael's energy in the room. Dominic tells us Billy Porter and Jurnee Smollett greeted him and his family and expressed their sympathy ... while also making it clear they wanted Michael's legacy to live on.

We caught up with Dominic after the Emmys and he told us he was bummed his uncle didn't get an Emmy (it went to Tobias Menzies for his portrayal of Prince Phillip in "The Crown"), but he told us he very much appreciated Kerry Washington's gesture in honoring him onstage.