JD Vance’s “Childless Cat Ladies” Remark Was a Reliable Punchline at Emmys 2024

With just 50 days until the next presidential election, politics were top of mind for many stars at the Emmys 2024—where voting was a topic of multiple speeches and JD Vance was a frequent punch line.

The first nod toward the 2024 presidential election happened early in the evening. While presenting the first award of the night, Selena Gomez referred to her Only Murders costars Steve Martin and Martin Short as basically “childless cat ladies,” in reference to Vance’s now infamous sound bite.

Two of the night’s early winners also gave political shoutouts during their acceptance speeches. The Morning Show’s Billy Crudup, who won his second Emmy for supporting actor in a drama series, acknowledged his wife and fellow nominee Naomi Watts (Feud: Capote vs. the Swans) as “an immigrant” who “starts businesses, too.” Then The Bear’s Liza Colón-Zayas, who won best supporting actress in a comedy series for the first time, ended her remarks by addressing “the Latinas who are looking at me [to] keep believing and vote—vote for your rights.”

Before presenting best lead actress in a comedy series to Hacks’s Jean Smart, Candice Bergen reflected on then Vice President Dan Quayle’s criticism of her iconic sitcom Murphy Brown. “For 11 years, I had the tremendous privilege of playing the lead in a comedy series called Murphy Brown. I was surrounded by brilliant and funny actors. Had the best scripts to work with. And in one classic moment, my character was attacked by Vice President Dan Quayle when Murphy became pregnant and decided to raise the baby as a single mother,” Bergen began.

“Today a Republican vice presidential candidate would never attack a woman for having a baby. My job here is done,” Bergen quipped, adding in a “Meow” for good measure as an amused-looking Jon Stewart laughed from the audience.

In honor of the show’s 25th anniversary, cast members from The West Wing, including Martin Sheen, Allison Janney, Dulé Hill, Richard Schiff, and Janel Moloney, also reunited to present best drama series to Shōgun at Emmys 2024. Before they read the winner, they fittingly joked about how modern political storylines would have been deemed too outlandish for their series and implored viewers to ensure they are registered to vote.

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