In a virtual Emmys version of the wrong-winner Oscars gaffe, Ron Cephas Jones' guest actor award for This Is Us was announced for another nominee, Jason Bateman.
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The error occurred during Saturday's online creative arts Emmys, precursor to Sunday's main ceremony and the culmination of a week of events honouring technical and other achievements in television.
Saturday's show on FXX, however, was the only one of the creative arts presentations to be televised, making the error more glaring. In a voice-over announcement, Bateman was declared the winner for his guest appearance on HBO's The Outsider, while the screen displayed Jones' name.
The confusion wasn't addressed until after a commercial break, with an on-screen message that read, "Our apologies, an incorrect winner has been announced. We're fixing it now," followed by the repeated display of Jones' name but without an announcement.
There was no immediate explanation for the mistake.
Bateman has another shot on Sunday, when he competes for the best actor honours for Ozark. The ABC telecast from 8pm (10am on Monday AEST) will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.
Given the virtual event's lack of on-stage presenters and a theatre audience due to COVID-19 precautions, the error was far less dramatic than the 2017 Oscars mix-up, in which Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway mistakenly announced La La Land as the best picture instead of winner Moonlight.
Other winners on Saturday included Eddie Murphy, whose return to Saturday Night Live after more than three decades earned the star his first Emmy Award, for guest comedy series actor.
Maya Rudolph claimed the category's guest actress trophy for her portrayal of Senator Kamala Harris on the same episode.
Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby was up for two awards for her special Douglas on Saturday but lost both times to Dave Chappelle's fellow Netlix show Sticks & Stones.
Justine Seymour missed out on a contemporary costume prize for her work on Netflix's Unorthodox.
Five Australians are up for awards on Sunday, including Hugh Jackman for his lead role in HBO's Bad Education, Cate Blanchett as lead actress for FX's Mrs America, Toni Collette (Netflix's Unbelievable) and Sarah Snook (HBO's Succession) in supporting actress categories, and Tony McNamara for writing in a comedy series (Hulu's The Great).
Australian Associated Press
