Friday, July 12, 2013

Aisha Tyler On Daytime Emmy Envelope Mix-up: 'Thank God They Gave It To Me And Not One Of The Poor Soap Stars'


THE TALK's Aisha Tyler was a guest on Andy Cohen's WATCH WHAT HAPPENS LIVE on Thursday night and was asked about being given the wrong envelope when presenting at last month's Daytime Emmy Awards.

"They've never given out the wrong envelope in the history of the Emmy Awards, ever," Tyler explained. "I have to say they did me a favor. Thank God they gave it to me and not one of the poor soap stars who only knows what to say when someone's handed them a page on a script. I'm not trying to hate. Ooooh, that was hate-y."

You can watch the segment in the clip below (at around the 9:30 mark):



As a producer of the annual Indie Soap Awards in New York, I have sent many a "poor soap star" on stage and told them to "wing it" and they've always performed brilliantly. As an example, this year I asked ONE LIFE TO LIVE's Hillary B. Smith to fill in at the last minute presenting the final award of the night, and closing the show with AS THE WORLD TURNS star Martha Byrne. Her instructions were something to the effect of, "you'll walk out with Martha, announced the Drama winner, then ad-lib an introduction of bubbles filling the theater." It was perfect. Speaking of Martha, she pretty much ad-libbed her through the entire 2nd Annual ISAs back in 2011, and it was fabulous and hilarious.

I don't think Aisha had any ill intentions but since her talk show has supported the soap world so much, it was disappointing that this thought about soap stars popped into her head (and out of her mouth) on WWHL.

18 comments:

  1. Come on, Aisha. :-(

    ReplyDelete
  2. Never cared for her - although I didn't have a specific reason. That reason was just given to me. She will never have the talent and charisma that most soap stars have in the space of the fingernail on their pinky! Truly, she is the lowest of the low...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've nothing against Aisha Tyler but I've never watched the Talk, don't have the time nor the interest in doing so.

    Because I do like Aisha, I hope someone will take her aside and remind her that The Talk replaced a soap and that that chat show is still trying to gain viewers, many of whom are soap fans and may be offended by what she said. The Talk hasn't tanked like The Revolution but it's far from being an institution, therefore it's not safe to insult probably a large segment of The Talk's audience.

    Sadly, I doubt that CBS management truly cares that she said this since they only seem to court the daytime drama crowd when it suits shoring up ratings for The Talk. I guess the recent ratings upswing has given those at The Talk confidence that they no longer need to court the Daytime Drama audience.
    This is kind of what I've suspected from Day 1. Apart from Sheryl, what's her name?, I doubt the rest really give a fig about the soaps.

    ReplyDelete
  4. These five yentas replaced the beloved Hughes family. One of them insulting soap actors and soap fans does not surprise me. AS THE WORLD TURNS and GUIDING LIGHT should still be on the air, not five yentas discussing enemas, gynecologists and diarrhea.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's ironic. Aisha just proved how poor her live performance can be when she doesn't have note cards on a table in front of her or four other women sitting nearby to interrupt before she says something really stupid.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That was not my best moment. I know quite a few soap stars who are brilliant, incredibly talented, and would have performed quite elegantly in the same situation. Anyone who knows WWHL knows that Andy plies his guests with cocktails before the show. In my case, I said something I didn't mean in the heat of the moment. I could blame my Manhattan, but it was my fault. It was wrong, I didn't mean it, and I apologize.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dumb comment, and wrong to boot.

    ReplyDelete
  9. If that was Aisha Tyler who posted, even if it wasn't, you know what? I will accept her apology. Even though as I said, I am unable (maybe a little unwilling too) to watch The Talk and in spite of the fact that ATWT was my favorite soap, I'm going to take what Ms. Tyler posted at face value and accept her apology. I know others may not feel the same but when the apology seems sincere and considering who I've seen Ms. Tyler to be, I believe in forgiveness.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Aisha apologized and I for one accept it. We've all said stupid things we wish we could take back. There are worse things going on in the world that we should get upset about.

    ReplyDelete
  11. well I think she is right there are many daytime actors that are lousy at what they do ..unfortunately if you notice the good ones get replaced by bad actors ...and I have noticed that lately ...Aisha no need to apologize your right on ..I have commented on certain cast changes ... poor judgement on the directors ...it happens what can anyone do ..I love the talk keep up the good work Isha

    ReplyDelete
  12. UPDATE:
    The video was removed from YouTube.

    Aisha, thanks for posting and addressing the comment head on. Lana Kane is my hero.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks to Aisha for replying. I remember that night how happy people were watching her and thought she should host in the future. This seems like a very unfortunate mistake and I accept the apology. Heck, I watched the after party on The Talk the next day and even I believe it was Sara Gilbert admitted she probably would have just read what was on the card, Some soap stars would handle it beautifully and others not so much. And while I am still bitter about the cancellation of ATWT I've let it go and do watch The Talk when there is a guest I enjoy and think Aisha is an asset to the show. I'm happy she addressed and admitted her error.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wow~~it surprises me the hurtfful, inappropriate things that pop out of peoples' mouths. And it seems that it is what is "their truth" when it comes off the top of their head. Amazingly profound that someone who is giving herself credit for being able to be professional and "good in a tight spot", at the SAME MOMENT says something SO WRONG, HURTFUL, UNPROFESSIONAL AND NOT FUNNY. Good job, Aisha~~I guess they should have asked "some poor soap star" a question~~not you.

    ReplyDelete
  15. As I have heard countless times now from actors in all genres, the soap actor is the hardest working actor in the industry! Where as an actor who works on a TV sitcom that airs one day a week, they shoot all week to do one episode, and they have ample time to learn their lines. But on a soap opera? It's way different! Keep in mind that a soap airs 5 days a week, and they shoot 5 days a week! They shoot an episode a day and are given their scripts generally a day in advance! So that means they have one day to learn their lines, and that is very hard to do. Which means because it is so hard to do, that most times they are ad-libbing some. And I have not seen anyones performances that were noticeable as if they did not know their lines or that they were ad-libbing! These people are the best in the industry! It was very disrespectful of you Aisha to say such a thing! Especially when you know what you aid is so far from the truth! I hope that you also apologize to the soap actors, as they are the ones who truly deserve an apology!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi All.....Kudos to Aisha for apologizing. I love The Talk and so I'll give her a pass for not thinking it through before speaking. However, MANY of us are say FAR worse thing about the "hair models" and green newbies (think Jen Tilley during her GH run and the kid who plays Jack on OLTL), so those trying to bash Aisha should keep themselves in check and hope they haven't been guilty of making snarky comments before.

    ReplyDelete
  17. why say it when you are just going to apologize for it she should have thought before she spoke because the soaps have created countless careers many as better as it seems her will ever be....to bad for her she would have been kinda good getting blown up by Kristen DiMera

    ReplyDelete