Nate Bargatze will host the Primetime Emmy Awards next Sunday on CBS, a capstone to what he described as the biggest year of his career during an interview on CBS Sunday Morning.
In the segment, Bargatze reflected on the arc of his rise from small-town stages to mainstream prominence and on a recent philanthropic gift to his alma mater. He said he donated more than $1 million to Donelson Christian Academy in Nashville, where the school’s gymnasium now bears his name. “Yeah, I was cut every year from my basketball team,” Bargatze admitted. “But now, you know, now they can’t cut you!”
Bargatze told the program he left New York in 2014 and moved back to Tennessee at the height of his early career so his daughter could “grow up in a normal situation.” He called the decision “the first thing I did that wasn’t for me,” and said the move helped sustain a career that has accelerated steadily since.
Since returning to Tennessee, Bargatze has sold more than a million tickets, released five stand-up specials, written a bestselling book and drawn widespread attention with a viral appearance on Saturday Night Live, he said. He also discussed an expanding film slate: his first feature, The Breadwinner, starring Mandy Moore, is due out next spring.
The comedian said he welcomes the hectic schedule that comes with hosting the Emmys. He is slated to play two back-to-back arena shows in Denver the day before the awards, a pace he described as familiar and energizing. “I love show business. I love all of this,” he said. “You’re just curious to go, like, Well, what is that like? … I want to see the chaos. I want to feel the chaos.”
Bargatze’s selection as Emmy host follows a year of heightened visibility across television and live performance. Hosting the Primetime Emmys places the stand-up comic at the center of a live broadcast that recognizes achievements across television, and it will be his highest-profile hosting assignment to date.
The CBS Sunday Morning interview provided a rare, long-form look at how family considerations, a deliberate retreat from the New York spotlight and steady touring contributed to Bargatze’s commercial success. He characterized his approach as grounded in routine and in an appetite for the grind of live performance, rather than in chasing stardom.
As Bargatze prepares for the Emmys, his schedule also points to ongoing momentum: arena dates, a forthcoming feature film and continued specials, all unfolding after a year he called the biggest yet. The CBS Sunday Morning segment with Bargatze is available to view on the program’s platform.