Although it might have been meant as a cheeky wink to the fact that Melissa McCarthy won outstanding guest actress in a comedy series thanks to her impression of "Spicey" on Saturday Night Live, the opening monologue cameo by former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer didn't land very well with audiences. During the cameo, he brought in his own roving podium to assure host Stephen Colbert that his crowd size would be the biggest, period. The bit quickly went viral, but for all the wrong reasons.

Some rebuked the decision to invite Spicer to the awards, questioning if the move normalized the embattled White House staffer and suggesting that some of his remarks made while on the real podium were no laughing matter. Alec Baldwin, who won an Emmy for his portrayal of Donald Trump on SNL, defended the decision to include Spicer in the ceremony. "I think people in the business, the average person, is very grateful for him to have a sense of humor and participate," he told press. "I mean, Spicer obviously was compelled to do certain things that we might not have respected or we might not have admired...in order to do his job, but I've done some jobs that are things you shouldn't admire or respect me for either."