James Ransone's widow criticises Academy after Emmys In Memoriam omission

The widow of actor James Ransone has criticised the Television Academy after he was left out of the broadcast In Memoriam, the short video tribute to industry members who have died, at the 78th Emmy Awards.

Jamie McPhee, the widow and wife of Ransone, said her husband was not acknowledged on the telecast and had also been missing from the Oscars tribute in March, according to Variety.

In an Instagram post, McPhee, also known as Jamie “Skipper” McPhee, wrote that she was incredibly disappointed with the Television Academy. It simply was not right not to acknowledge Ransone and his work, she said.

A Television Academy spokesperson said there was a limit on how many people could be acknowledged in the broadcast In Memoriam because it runs only a few minutes. Ransone’s name is included in the Academy’s more extensive online-only In Memoriam video.

Ransone broke out as Ziggy Sobotka in Season 2 of HBO’s The Wire. He later appeared in the films Sinister, It: Chapter 2 and Tangerine, and in the HBO miniseries Generation Kill.

He died in December. Director Scott Derrickson, who said he cast Ransone in five films, wrote that he buried Ransone in early January after Ransone died by suicide.

The Emmy tribute was performed to Noah Kahan singing “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” according to the Television Academy. It began with recollections of performer Catherine O’Hara from Macaulay Culkin, Annie Murphy and Dan Levy.

Ransone was not the only name missing from the televised segment. Robert Redford was excluded from the on-air tribute, according to Entertainment Weekly. Chuck Norris and Nicholas Brendon were also not shown on air.

The Oscars omission in March drew a similar response. Ransone appeared only on the Academy’s website In Memoriam and not on the broadcast on 15 March. George Wendt, Julian McMahon and Danielle Spencer were also website-only, while Eric Dane, James Van Der Beek, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Brigitte Bardot and Robert Carradine were listed among those omitted from the broadcast.

Derrickson had criticised that decision at the time. Ransone remains listed on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ official In Memoriam 2026 page, which covers artists and filmmakers lost between the 2025 and 2026 Oscars, with the credit Actor.