This Botched Emmys Tweet Likely Landed The NYT Social Lead In Hot Water

The 2021 Emmys certainly got off to a lively start. Host Cedric the Entertainer kicked off the festivities with a star-studded rendition of Biz Markie's "Just a Friend" in honor of the rapper who died July this year. The tribute saw Cedric joined by the likes of LL Cool J, Tracee Ellis Ross and — shockingly — Rita Wilson, who "deservingly broke the internet" as one Twitter user pointed out. The reactions to Wilson's and the others' musical forte were just as newsworthy, with Michael Douglas, nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for "The Kominsky Method," boogying and clapping along in the aisles. "Now that is how you rock out to M.C. Rita Wilson," a tweeter quipped.

As host, Cedric also took an early shot at Nicki Minaj's September remarks about COVID-19 vaccinations. Minaj tweeted on September 13 that she has yet to be vaccinated because she hasn't done "enough research," sharing anecdotally that her cousin's friend "got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen," to which Cedric retorted on stage via People, "I got vaxxed. I did not have a reaction like Nicki Minaj's cousin's friend, okay? I got Pfizer, you know what I'm saying? Because I'm bougie. That's the Neiman Marcus of vaccines." 

Amid the evening's fun, The New York Times made a social media faux pas that reminded us the Emmys are, in fact, a live event. Here's what really went down.

Julianne Nicholson won the 2021 Emmy statuette for "Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie" for "Mare of Easttown," but The New York Times unintentionally had you believe otherwise in a since-deleted tweet, initially giving the win to "WandaVision"'s Kathryn Hahn. The outlet came clean in a follow-up tweet, writing, "Correction: An earlier tweet misstated that Kathryn Hahn had won the award. She did not. We've deleted the incorrect tweet." 

Though it is unclear what caused the outlet to tweet the initial error, it seems like a harmless enough mistake, right? Not according to some Twitter users. As one tweeted (translated from French), the erroneous tweet was an indictment of the NYT's larger reporting habits. "It does not matter. You sometimes speak proven or erroneous nonsense, false objective information or subjective ideological & political positions which delight some or revolt others," the tweeter wrote. Oof. "Why start now?" another snarky Twitter reply read. 

Others in the Twittersphere did take a more humorous approach, with one referencing the infamous Miss Universe 2019 pageant snafu, "What in the Steve Harvey is this?" while another linked it back to Hahn's equally well-known theme song off "WandaVision," tweeting, "It was Julianne Nicholson all along."