It was a big night for Apple with 28 wins, the most of any streamer or TV network. John Ternus (left), seen with Matthew Rhys, and Eddy Cue. Apple TV via Getty Images Mysterious new Apple boss John Ternus got his Hollywood closeup at the Emmys on Monday night, and the “subdued” CEO brought the ultimate ice breaker: the unreleased, foldable iPhone Duo.
There was footage of Ternus showing off the upcoming $1,999 device on the red carpet to ooh and ahhs. But we hear that stars were hitting him up for the phone privately in LA even before the awards at the Peacock Theater.
Ternus attended an intimate Apple party the night before the Emmys, filled with stars and powerbrokers, where some talent brazenly hit him up for the phone.
“The new phone is big news,” said one top Hollywood exec, who added that they heard of at least one star, “asking [Ternus] to get him on the list” for a phone. Joked the source about who gets the phones: “It’s like CEOs. That’s like the ‘Eddy Cue list of illuminati.'” [Cue is Apple’s senior vice president of services and health.]
A source added of Ternus at the private Sunday pre-party: “It was a small gathering with a lot of talent,” where Ternus was mixing with “actors and other creatives.”
The next night, Ternus was stopped on the red carpet by Deadline and whipped out the iPhone Duo from the pocket of his tux jacket to the delight of a squealing reporter, and sparking a barrage of comments about the device online.
Page Six Hollywood previously reported when Ternus stepped into the top job — taking over from outgoing CEO Tim Cook two weeks ago — that techy exec was a complete mystery in Hollywood. The unknown factor had some entertainment types on edge as they wondered what Ternus’ appetite would be for Apple’s streaming service, Apple TV and its Apple Studios. “No one knows him,” one entertainment CEO told us at the time.
Cook had become a fixture at premieres and events, and launched Apple TV in 2019 with a stream of stars and VIPs, including Jennifer Aniston and Steven Spielberg.
But judging from the company’s mammoth record-breaking awards tally at Monday’s Primetime Emmys, sources said Ternus has been bitten by the TV bug. The streamer won the most awards, with an astounding 28. “There’s no way that [Ternus] came down to LA for however long he did and was leaving feeling ‘that’s a waste of time,'” said a TV veteran who saw the exec at the show.
After the unprecedented run at the Emmys, “Apple’s party was popping,” a guest told P6H. After the unprecedented run at the Emmys, “Apple’s party was popping,” a guest told P6H.
Attendees at the Nya Studios event included Apple talent such as Jon Hamm and Matthew Rhys, along with Michael J. Fox, “SNL” comic Marcello Hernández and Stephen Colbert.
Ternus attended, and a source said, “He’s not a party guy, he was just subdued and soaking it in.”
“By all accounts he likes the TV stuff,” a source said. “Not that Tim Cook didn’t, but how can you not be fired up? Look at how many submissions they had versus how many wins. The hit rate was maniacal. All their shows are good.” (The Apple crew around Ternus had even been whooping it up in the audience.)
Apple submitted 31 shows for Emmys, compared to Netflix’s 125 and HBO’s 86 — and beat both competitors at the awards for the first time since Apple TV launched in 2019. Apple came into the night with 19 wins (20 if you count a commercial win) from the previous two nights of Emmys, and then added to the haul with wins for “Widow’s Bay,” “Slow Horses,” “Pluribus,”
Apple’s persona as a streamer has been hard to pin down for industry pros. “It’s really hard,” said a source of selling to the studio. “I don’t think even Apple would say they have a way of doing things. And the things that’s scary is they don’t need to make TV. TV is a rounding error for them.”
With Apple’s “The Studio” and “Severance” returning, and “Widow’s Bay” continuing after that, Ternus could be showing off his tech on the red carpet again next year.
“They’re in a groove and creatively so impressive,” said a source. “They’ll probably win a few years in a row.”
A source said Apple TV’s head of programming Matt Cherniss and streaming execs Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg deserved major credit for the wins.
