The 2026 Creative Arts Emmy Awards opened in Los Angeles with major victories for Bad Bunny, The Traitors, Sabrina Carpenter and Mariska Hargitay, as television’s behind-the-scenes talent and some of entertainment’s biggest names gathered for the first night of this year’s ceremony.
Bad Bunny’s Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show emerged as the evening’s biggest winner with seven Emmys, while Peacock reality hit The Traitors followed closely with six.
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl show wins seven Emmys
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance continued its awards-season success with victories across several major categories.
The production won Outstanding Variety Special (Live) as well as awards for choreography, production design and music direction.
The victory also gave Bad Bunny himself an Emmy as one of the producers of the halftime show.
The scale of the production was reflected in the recognition given to the creative teams responsible for transforming the Super Bowl stage into one of the year’s most ambitious live television spectacles. Music director Miguel Gandelmanrevealed that preparing the performance required following Bad Bunny on tour in order to record musicians while the singer was travelling through countries including Colombia and Chile.
The Traitors continues its awards dominance
Another major winner was The Traitors, which collected six awards during the first night.
The Peacock series won across categories including production design and cinematography, further strengthening its position as one of television’s most successful reality franchises.
Host Alan Cumming also won his fifth Emmy, taking Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program.
Cumming was unable to attend the ceremony because he was filming the latest season of the show, so the award was accepted on his behalf.
Sabrina Carpenter adds an Emmy to her collection
Sabrina Carpenter reached another major career milestone thanks to Disney+ special The Muppet Show.
The production won Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), with Carpenter recognised as both an executive producer and performer.
The victory leaves the singer and actress halfway toward achieving an EGOT, the rare combination of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards.
Carpenter did not attend the ceremony but celebrated the win online, expressing her pride in the team behind the special.
Seth Rogen, another executive producer on The Muppet Show, also added to his awards collection, earning his fifth Emmy.
Mariska Hargitay wins two Emmys
Mariska Hargitay had one of the evening’s most emotional moments.
Her documentary My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay won two awards, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special and Outstanding Directing.
The film explores the life of Hargitay’s mother, Hollywood actress Jayne Mansfield, and allowed Hargitay to approach her family history from a deeply personal perspective.
During her acceptance speech, she paid tribute to feminist activist Gloria Steinem, reflecting on the importance of people telling their own stories and refusing to let others define them.
Backstage, Hargitay described this period of her life as one of embracing new opportunities rather than allowing fear to determine her decisions.
Jimmy Kimmel takes the first award of the night
The first Emmy presented during the ceremony went to Jimmy Kimmel, who won Outstanding Host for a Game Showfor Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.
Kimmel also won the category last year and opened his acceptance speech with his usual sense of humour.
Meanwhile, Jeopardy! took home the award for Outstanding Game Show.
Octavia Spencer and Love on the Spectrum also celebrate
Octavia Spencer won Outstanding Narration for the documentary series Lost Women of Alaska, which examines the crisis involving missing and murdered Indigenous women.
Spencer said she hoped the recognition would help more stories focused on victims and overlooked communities reach audiences.
Netflix’s Love on the Spectrum also enjoyed a strong night, winning three Emmys, including Outstanding Casting for a Reality Program.
Television’s creative talent takes centre stage
The Creative Arts Emmys traditionally recognise the enormous teams working behind some of television’s biggest productions — from cinematographers, editors and production designers to composers, choreographers and casting directors.
Comedian Wanda Sykes, who delivered the opening remarks, highlighted that television is created by thousands of people collaborating behind the scenes, setting the tone for a ceremony focused as much on technical achievement as celebrity.
Among the other winners was composer Tyler Strickland, who received the Emmy for music composition for John Candy: I Like Me, while Ocean With David Attenborough won for nonfiction cinematography.
A strong start to Emmy season
With seven wins for Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl spectacle, six for The Traitors, a new milestone for Sabrina Carpenter and an emotional double victory for Mariska Hargitay, the first night of the 2026 Creative Arts Emmys delivered a mix of music, reality television, documentary filmmaking and major celebrity moments.
The ceremonies are taking place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, with an edited broadcast of the 2026 Creative Arts Emmy Awards scheduled to air on FXX on September 12.
For Bad Bunny in particular, the evening marked another major crossover achievement — transforming one of the world’s biggest live music performances into the most awarded production of the night.
