Emmys Host Cedric the Entertainer Brings Hip Hop and Jokes to Show Open

Cedric the Entertainer at Emmys (Credit: CBS)

Cedric the Entertainer and friends brought down the house Sunday night with the opening musical act at the 73rd Emmy Awards in downtown Los Angeles.

The Emmys host hyped up the live crowd by singing a hip hop tribute to the late Biz Markie and his single, “Just a Friend.” LL Cool J, Lil Dicky, Rita Wilson, Billy Porter and more celebrities helped by singing from the stage and the seated audience in a tent outside the Microsoft Theater

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After the hip hop opening, the first-time Emmys host and star of The Neighborhood delivered a a few jokes and shared personal memories of growing up watching TV.

“My favorite TV memory is sitting with my grandmother watching our programs together,” Cedric said in his opening monologue.

As the night progressed, Cedric quipped about the royal family, Jeopardy!‘s host shake up, and he touched on the recent Nicki Minaj vaccine controversy.

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After mentioning The Crown as a “another great show”, Cedric said the real royal family would be  embarrassed by the show.

“[Prince Harry] renounced his thrown quicker than Eddie Murphy did in Coming to America.”

As for the Minaj tweet that made waves around the world, Cedric joked “I’m vaccinated. Yet, I got vaccinated. And I didn’t have the same reaction as Nicki Minaj’s cousin’s friend.” 

A firestorm on Twitter erupted Sept. 13 when the “Anaconda” artist tweeted: “My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding.”

As the presenters started to come on stage for the awards show, Cedric kept the hip hop theme going throughout the Emmys by playing raps songs in between the different awards.


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About Jacquelinne Mejia

Jacquelinne Mejia is a writer and social media producer in Los Angeles. She can be reached on Twitter @JackieMejia.