They say, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say something at all.”

So it’s probably to be expected that the left-leaning Hollywood crowd at the 2025 Emmy Awards on CBS Sunday night steered clear of bringing up the shocking assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, whose murder last week has roiled the nation and sparked mourning, reflection and fierce debate.

It’s a bit surprising that there weren’t some moderate-sounding “let’s all come together” appeals for unification in the wake of the tragedy, however.

Which isn’t to say politics were entirely absent from the three-hour telecast from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

Hacks star Hannah Einbinder, who won an Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy, concluded her speech by declaring, “Fuck ICE and free Palestine!”

Fellow Hacks star Megan Stalter expressed similar support on the Emmys red carpet by holding a bag which was branded with the words, “CEASE FIRE.”

Presenter Bryan Cranston made a joking reference to “destructive woke degenerates like Tom Hanks,” referring to President Trump recently slamming the congenial actor.  

A few did offer vague-but-hopeful messages which might have been inspired by recent events, though just as easily could be referring to Trump’s controversial policies.

Hacks actress Jean Smart won the Emmy for best actress in a comedy and then said simply, “Be good to each other.”

Stephen Colbert, winning the Emmy for best talk series for the first time, ended his speech by saying, “Ten years ago, in September of 2015, Spike Jonze stopped by my office and said, ‘Hey, what do you want this show to be about?’ And I said, ‘Spike, I don’t know how you could do it, but I kind of like to do a late-night comedy show that was about love.’ I don’t know if I ever figured that out, but at a certain point — and you can guess what that point was — I realized that in some ways, we were doing a late-night comedy show about loss. And that’s related to love. Because sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense that you might be losing it. Ten years later, in September, 2025, my friends, I have never loved my country more desperately. God bless America! Stay strong. Be brave. And if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor.”

Mary Steenburgen — while accepting the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award along with her husband Ted Danson — said poignantly, “Life is made up of two emotions: Love and fear. The world is a little out of balance right now. We don’t want to live in fear. So we make ourselves useful for organizations that move this scale away from fear and put it smack dab in the middle of love.”

And Television Academy Board of Governors Chair Cris Abrego touted the power of TV for bringing people together. “At a time when division dominates the headlines, storytelling still has the power to unite us,” he said. “All of us in this room must continue to champion that power and wield it responsibly in moments like this. Neutrality is not enough. We must be voices for connection, inclusion and empathy because we know that culture doesn’t come from the top down, it rises from the bottom up.”

While some on the right might take umbrage at the omission of any reference to Kirk, one longtime conservative complaint about Hollywood awards shows has been celebrities bringing up politics on stage.

Host Nate Bargatze kept his monologue and other host moments throughout the show completely free of politics, as he pledged before the show.

The family friendly Christian comedian previously told Fox News about hosting the event: “I want it to be a night that’s fun. The comics that [make controversial jokes], they’re great at it, and I can’t do what they do. And, so, I just want this night to be — I hope that it’s just, I don’t know, as relaxing as it can be … I don’t get political because it doesn’t really matter. It doesn’t matter what religion you are. It doesn’t matter what your politics are. I don’t think I need to guide you in any direction. I can tell you who I am. This is why I tend to be that way, and then I steer it in a direction that welcomes everybody. Whether you’re not a Christian or you’re conservative or Democrat or whatever you are, that’s not what this is about.”