The Creative Arts Emmy Awards, held in Los Angeles as a curtain-raiser to the main televised ceremony on 14 September, made Bad Bunny one of the standout figures of the night. The Puerto Rican artist has come away with seven awards thanks to his show during the Super Bowl LX halftime break.
The production, officially titled “The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny”, went into this edition of the Emmys with a remarkable achievement already under its belt. In July it became the music production in this format with the highest number of nominations, nine in total, since the awards were created, beating the record held by Lady Gaga since 2017.
The Television Academy has now recognised the technical ambition and creativity of the Latin show with seven statuettes. Among them are Best Music Direction, for Brazilian Miguel Gandelman, and Best Choreography for Variety Programming, for choreographers Charm La’Donna and Karina Ortiz. The haul also includes awards for technical direction, lighting design, sound mixing and directing for a special programme.
Bad Bunny’s presence at this year’s Emmys has not been limited to the sporting and musical arena. His work as a presenter has also been recognised, as the episode of “Saturday Night Live” he hosted at the end of 2025 has won the Emmy for Best Make-up in the variety, non-fiction or reality category.
It has been a record-breaking year for Bad Bunny, who has already received the 2026 Grammy and 2026 Latin Grammy, putting Spanish among the most listened-to and awarded music in the world. His winning streak appears to be continuing with these 7 Emmy Awards.
A continental message before millions of viewers
The singer used the biggest television stage in the United States to assert the idea of America as a single, entire continent, rather than a term used exclusively to refer to the United States.
The show ended with a commemorative ball bearing the slogan “Together we’re America”, accompanied by a parade of flags and the names of all the countries in the region, from Canada to Chile.
This year’s nominations were announced by Puerto Rico-born actress Liza Colón-Zayas, known for her role in the series “The Bear”, alongside comedian Jeff Hiller. The 2026 Emmy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday 14 September at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
Other winners on the first night of the Creative Arts Emmys
Bad Bunny’s triumph was not an isolated case on the opening night of the Creative Arts Emmys. His Super Bowl show became the most decorated programme of the evening, with seven statuettes, ahead of productions such as “The Traitors”, which took six, and “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”, with five.
Stephen Colbert’s programme, which came to an end in May after an eleven-year run, won the Emmy for Best Picture Editing for Variety Programming for an episode featuring Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello, as well as the award for Best Lighting Design for a Series for another episode with Bruce Springsteen as guest.
The Muppet Show, on Disney+, picked up four awards and prevailed in the category of Best Pre-Recorded Variety Special ahead of Taylor Swift, whose tour farewell “Taylor Swift, The Eras Tour, The Final Show” was also competing in that section. Sabrina Carpenter, involved in the Muppets special as executive producer and performer, thereby won her first Primetime Emmy.
Other notable awards of the day included Best Documentary or Non-Fiction Series, for “Mr. Scorsese”, the Apple TV production about filmmaker Martin Scorsese, and Best Sound Mixing for a Non-Fiction Programme, for “Billy Joel, And So It Goes” on HBO Max. The segment “Blink Again”, from the series “Sean Combs, The Reckoning” on Netflix, took the prize for Best Picture Editing for a Non-Fiction Programme.
In the music categories, Miguel Gandelman took the prize for Best Music Direction for Bad Bunny’s show and became the third person to win that award for a Super Bowl halftime performance, after Adam Blackstone in 2022 and Kendrick Lamar with Tony Russell last year. Tyler Strickland, for his part, won Best Music Composition for a documentary, non-fiction or reality programme for his work on “John Candy, I Like Me”. Both thereby secured their first Primetime Emmy.
Director Hamish Hamilton once again claimed the award for Best Direction for a Variety Special, this time for Bad Bunny’s show. It is the third time he has done so in the past four years, after winning in 2023 for Rihanna’s halftime show, co-directed with Jay-Z, and in 2024 for his work on the Oscars ceremony.
Actress and director Mariska Hargitay picked up two awards as producer and director of “My Mom Jayne, A Film by Mariska Hargitay”, a documentary about her mother, actress Jayne Mansfield. Hargitay will also host the 78th edition of the Emmy Awards, which will be broadcast live on NBC next Monday 14 September from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, with a simultaneous stream on Peacock.
Of the 49 categories presented on Saturday, this was the tally. Another 53 will be handed out this Sunday, on the second night of the Creative Arts Emmys. Of these, only 19 will be included in the televised broadcast of the main gala on 14 September. Highlights from both Creative Arts ceremonies will air on Saturday 12 September at 20:00 (Pacific Time) on FXX, and will be available on Hulu from the following day.