Actor Jon Hamm may have rocked his return to “The Morning Show” in 2025, but he won’t be winning an Emmy award for it.
According to multiple Hollywood trades, the Television Academy suddenly removed Hamm’s name from the ballot on June 11, 2026. The actor has been “disqualified” from being nominated for his role as Paul Franks in the fourth season of “The Morning Show” over a new eligibility rule that AppleTV missed, per Variety.
Jon Hamm is Still Eligible to Win Emmys for Other Series, But Not for ‘The Morning Show’
Hamm first joined “The Morning Show” in its third season, co-starring with Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon as billionaire Paul Franks, poised to take over the network where their characters are morning news anchors.
In 2024, Hamm earned an Emmy nomination in the Supporting Actor in a Drama category for that role, but lost to his co-star on the series, Billy Crudup. Hamm returned to “The Morning Show” for the fourth season in 2025, but appeared in just three episodes, so AppleTV listed Hamm as a guest star in its submissions for the latest season.
The Television Academy “missed the discrepancy during verification,” per Variety, and ballots were released to members with Hamm’s name included in the Guest Star category. But once the error was realized, members were informed he’d been disqualified, and his name was removed.
GettyThe chaos occurred because of a new guideline added to the Television Academy’s 83-page rule book in 2025, per GoldDerby. According to the new rule, a performer who’s been nominated for a lead or supporting actor Emmy in the past cannot be nominated as a Guest Star on the same show in the future.
GoldDerby reported that the new rule, which AppleTV wasn’t aware of, was enacted after Claire Foy won Emmys in different categories for Netflix’s “The Crown,” in which she played Queen Elizabeth II for the show’s first two seasons. Foy was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series twice, winning the Emmy in 2018. Foy later returned for brief cameos in 2021 and 2024, and was nominated in the Guest Star category for both appearances, winning that Emmy in 2021.
Though Hamm can’t be nominated for season four of “The Morning Show” now, he is still on the 2026 ballot for other projects he worked on. Television Academy members have until June 22 to decide whether he should be officially nominated for Best Drama Actor in “Your Friends & Neighbors” and for Best Character Voice-Over in “Grimsburg,” per Variety.
Jon Hamm Isn’t the Only Actor Impacted by the New Emmy Rule
GettyHamm, whose role as Don Draper in “Mad Men” did win him the 2015 Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, isn’t the only major actor impacted by the Television Academy’s frequent rule changes.
According to Variety, several high-profile actors have now lost the chance of getting nominated in the Guest Star category, including Meryl Streep. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy for her season three role on Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building.”
She has since appeared in seasons four and five, but in less than 50% of the episodes, which is the Emmy qualification for being considered a Guest Star.” But because she was previously nominated in the supporting actress category, Variety reported, Streep can no longer be nominated as a Guest Star.
