From Billboard · Paul Grein · · 1m 50s
Mariska Hargitay's Emmy playlist pick
Before hosting the Emmys, Mariska Hargitay asked for one Taylor Swift song, and the choice says everything.
In brief
Before hosting the Emmys, Mariska Hargitay asked for one Taylor Swift song, and the choice says everything. Hargitay is the first woman to host the Primetime Emmys in 15 years, and she marked it with "The Man," Swift's song about how much harder women have to work. Originally reported by Billboard.
First woman in 15 years
Mariska Hargitay hosts the 2026 Primetime Emmys at the Peacock Theater on Sept. 14. No woman has fronted the show since Jane Lynch in 2011.
Ridiculous, and she said so
Asked about the gap by the Los Angeles Times, Hargitay didn't soften it. She called the stat unbelievable, then said change takes time and she's honored to carry it.
“It's unbelievable. It's ridiculous, especially with all the brilliant women out there.”
One request at the shoot
Midway through her photo shoot for the Times, Hargitay asked for a specific track: "Can you put on 'The Man' by Taylor?"
“Can you put on 'The Man' by Taylor?”
What the song argues
"The Man," the fourth single from Swift's 2019 album Lover, imagines how her career would have gone as a man, and how much harder women work for the same ground.
“I'm so sick of running as fast as I can / Wondering if I'd get there quicker if I was a man”
A modest hit, a big win
The single debuted and peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 2019. Its video won best direction at the 2020 VMAs, Swift's first of a record four in that category.
Damned either way
Swift told Billboard in 2019 that women get read as calculating when they plan and careless when they don't. Men can phone things in; women have to curate everything and hide the effort.
“If we make a mistake, that's our fault, but if we strategize so that we won't make a mistake, we're calculating.”
Friends, and a cat named Benson
The two go back years. Swift named one of her Scottish fold cats Olivia Benson, after the SVU detective Hargitay has played for 27 seasons, rising from junior detective to captain.
The key point
Hargitay is the first woman to host the Primetime Emmys in 15 years, and she marked it with "The Man," Swift's song about how much harder women have to work.
