The Boys & Girls Clubs Of America would like to thank the Emmys

Host Nate Bargatze's plan to keep the Emmys short didn't work out, but he made a sizable donation anyway.

By Drew Gillis | September 15, 2025 | 10:47am

Photo by Phil McCarten/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Content Services

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The Boys & Girls Clubs Of America would like to thank the Emmys

At the Emmys last night, host Nate Bargatze opened the show with a plan to donate $100,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs Of America, provided that the winners’ speeches didn’t go past their allotted 45 seconds. For every second they went beyond 45, Bargatze promised to take $1,000 from the charity. This bit lasted the whole evening, with a decreasing ticker popping up on the screen during some of the show’s more poignant moments, like when Dan Gilroy accepted his award for writing Andor, or when The Studio producer Frida Perez became the first Latina to win the award for Best Comedy. Of course, Bargatze and CBS ended up donating the money (and then some) anyway, making the intrusions ultimately unnecessary.

While some Emmy winners were probably less-than-thrilled by the bit, the charity is pretty happy about the attention. “Our heartfelt thanks to Nate Bargatze, CBS, and the Emmy Awards team for supporting Boys & Girls Clubs in such a big way,” Jim Clark, president and CEO of the organization, said in a statement, per E! News. “It was a true honor for our Club Kids to share the stage with the night’s winners, especially knowing some of our alumni have gone on to become Emmy winners themselves.”

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In the end, the challenge didn’t end up actually raising any money for the Boys & Girls Clubs; when the ceremony ended, the total purportedly raised by the bit was sitting around -$60,000, meaning that the thank you speeches ran about 160 seconds longer than planned over the course of a three-hour telecast. But the charity did leave the ceremony with $350,000 anyway—$100,000 donated by CBS and $250,000 from Bargatze himself. Clark continued, “The generous $350,000 donation from CBS and Nate is a powerful investment in the dreams and great futures of millions of young people nationwide.”