Anthony Anderson Opens 2024 Emmys Monologue With Crack at ‘Yellowstone’ Star Kevin Costner’s Compton Roots: “Wonder If He Was a Crip or a Blood”

Anthony Anderson opened the 75th Emmy Awards with a musical tribute to his favorite shows growing up, a warning to winners not to mess with his mama, and an odd joke pointing out that Yellowstone star Kevin Costner grew up not far from the awards show venue in Compton. “I wonder if he was a Crip or a Blood,” he asked before singing a medley of TV theme songs — complete with a Travis Barker cameo — and getting swiftly on with the show.

The 2023 Emmys opened on January 15, 2024 with host Anthony Anderson honoring the classic PBS series Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. “Mister Anderson’s Neighborhood” kicked off with Anderson entering the stage, swapping his fur for an evening jacket, and sitting down at the piano. To join him, Anderson welcomed a “small, local, diverse and inclusive choir from Compton.” After the choir, which was all people of color except for one white male singer, sang a few bars, Anderson addressed what he thought the audience might be thinking…

“You might be wondering why I have a white dude in the choir,” Anderson said. “Fun fact: Kevin Costner is from Compton. I wonder if he was a Crip or a Blood. Who knows?”

Then Anderson gave a shoutout to everyone’s favorite show that hasn’t come back in ages: “YELLOWSTONE!”

Was Costner there at the Emmys tonight? No. Are people still missing Yellowstone? Yes.

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After that, Anderson’s medley flitted through comic honors for The Facts of Life and Miami Vice, before crescendoing with Travis Barker tackling the drum line from the latter’s iconic “Coming in the Air Tonight” needledrop. And that was that…for the first five-minute-long portion of Anthony Anderson’s Emmys monologue.

After that, Anderson welcomed the crowd to the 75th annual Emmy awards before revealing that the show had a creative strategy for keeping the acceptance speeches short.

“Now, normally on award shows, we do what’s called playoff music, which everyone tends to ignore. This year I’ve got something that nobody can ignore: my mama.”

“Tonight, my mama, she’s going to be the Emmys playoff mama. When you see my mama coming, just thank Jesus and your family. And I don’t want nobody to get disrespectful with my mama because my mama is from the west side of Chicago,” Anderson said.

With that, Anthony Anderson’s 70-year-old mother Doris Hancox got to work interrupting her own son.

“That’s enough,” she said, standing up in the midst of the star-studded audience. “I wanna go to the after party.”

And with that, they got on with the show.

If Anthony Anderson’s extremely short monologue took you by surprise, just consider the fact that the nominees for tonight’s 2023 Emmy Awards have been waiting to find out if they’ve won or lost for a long time now. Both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes took over the usual Emmy awards season timetable, pushing the ceremony from its usual September slot to January 2024. The good news? Barring any other bizarre catastrophe, this year’s Emmys should be right on schedule in September of this year.