Did the HBO series “Veep” help set the stage for Donald Trump’s rise in politics?
Julia Louis-Dreyfus never mentioned the Republican presidential nominee by name during her emotional acceptance speech at Sunday night’s Emmy Awards, but she certainly seemed to have him in mind as she accepted the prize for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
She said:
“I’d also like to take this opportunity to personally apologize for the current political climate. I think that ‘Veep’ has torn down the wall between comedy and politics. Our show started out as a political satire, but it now feels more like a sobering documentary. So I certainly do promise to rebuild that wall ― and make Mexico pay for it.”
The speech echoed comments she made earlier this year in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, where she also said her show felt like it had become “a sobering documentary.”
“It’s just so outrageous what’s happening,” Louis-Dreyfus said in the interview, published in April. “Certain candidates say things, and if you were to lift the language and put it into our show, we’d get notes back from HBO saying, ‘It’s too broad, too over-the-top.’”
Trump was a popular target at Sunday night’s awards show, with host Jimmy Kimmel and “Master of None” star Aziz Ansari cracking jokes about the candidate while on stage. In addition, “Transparent” creator Jill Soloway compared Trump to Adolf Hitler in a backstage interview.