Queens Councilman Robert Holden (D) urged the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to take back Cuomo's award, saying that the governor's actions "have been an insult to every New Yorker who lost a loved one" to the coronavirus.

Cuomo received the Emmy in November in recognition of his daily televised press briefings during the height of the pandemic. During the virtual ceremony, Hollywood elites came out to salute the governor, including Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Billy Joel, and Spike Lee.

The governor said in his acceptance speech that his daily briefings "only offered one thing — authentic truth and stability. But sometimes, that's enough."

Cuomo is now dealing with perhaps the biggest scandal of his administration after a top aide revealed that Cuomo withheld the release of data on COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes because he feared it could be used against him by the Department of Justice under then-President Donald Trump.