The 2025 Emmy Awards raised $350,000 for the Boys and Girls Club, a nonprofit that helps get kids future-ready.
On Sunday, September 14, host Nate Bargatze kicked off the star-studded event, announcing that he has pledged to donate $100,000 to the organisation, with the incentive of keeping the winners' acceptance speeches 45 seconds or shorter.
He explained that it was a necessary tactic to force Hollywood's stars to give their speech within the allotted time, noting, "And if you want to do more than that, do it on social media later. More people are gonna see it there anyway."
Nate further shared that if the acceptance speeches remain within the 45 seconds, the donation will remain the promised $100,000; however, he would deduct $1,000 from the total every time someone's speech went over the mentioned time.
However, the first-time Emmys host said that the show would add $1,000 for every speech that went under 45 seconds.
Several of the nominees considered the donation during their acceptance speeches. While accepting supporting actress in a comedy series, Hacks star Hannah Einbinder said she would "pay the difference" when she noticed her speech was going over time.
Later on in the show, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg concluded their acceptance speech for outstanding directing for a comedy series for The Studio by declaring that they finished their speech in under 45 seconds.
While presenting the Outstanding Live Variety Special, Tina Fey told Nate that she would "pay for the time" after throwing out a joke.
The ceremony concluded with the host revealing that the amount of money they lost was "embarrassing."
He then shared that CBS was going to add $100,000 to the donation, while he would personally give $250,000, taking the total donation to $350,000.