Marcello Hernández Became the First Latino to Host the ESPYs and Made Sure Nobody in That Room Would Forget It — As He Should

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Marcello Hernández walked into the ESPY Awards on Wednesday night in New York City as the first Latino host in the show’s history. The Saturday Night Live star did not spend any time dwelling on the milestone.

He made his entrance in a boxer’s robe with Mike Tyson as part of his entourage, announced that Tyson had already taken his watch and proceeded to spend the next ten minutes making the entire sports world laugh at itself while a Cuban Dominican American son of immigrants stood at the center of one of the biggest nights in American sports entertainment and owned it completely.

@espn

Left it all on the stage 😂 #sports #espys #nhl #nfl #marcellohernandez

♬ original sound – ESPN

How He Opened and Who He Went After

Hernández opened by telling the audience it was an honor to be in a room full of great athletes, then immediately added that it was also an honor to be there alongside Jake Paul. Paul laughed and applauded when cameras found him in the audience, which gave Hernández exactly the energy he needed. The comedian pointed out that Paul has built his boxing career on fighting significantly older opponents, then brought his own family into it, telling Paul that his father and stepfather were both in the audience, both over 50, and that he should direct his frustration at them instead of at him.

The Jake Paul moment landed with particular resonance for the Latino audience, because Paul’s relationship with Puerto Rico has been a long-running controversy. He has repeatedly attempted to align himself with Puerto Rican culture despite having no genuine roots there, and the island’s community has largely rejected what many see as an opportunistic appropriation of Puerto Rican identity. Hernández putting Paul in his place on the biggest sports entertainment stage of the year was just so good to watch, full shade.

The Rest of the Monologue

Hernández used the Caleb Williams Madden 27 cover announcement to pivot to Tiger Woods, congratulating the Chicago Bears quarterback before adding that Woods would be appearing on the cover of Grand Theft Auto, a clean reference to Woods’ DUI arrest in Florida and subsequent announcement that he would be stepping away from golf to seek treatment.

Bill Belichick became the subject of a joke built around his relationship with Jordon Hudson and the Knicks’ championship drought. Hernández noted that the Knicks had won their first title since 1973 and landed the night’s sharpest line by pointing out that in 1973, Bill Belichick was the same age as his current girlfriend. The Knicks went on to win the ESPY for Best Team, with Jalen Brunson drawing laughs of his own by thanking the ESPYs for rescinding Josh Hart’s invitation.

The Awards That Shifted the Room

NBA player Jason Collins, who passed away in May at 47 after battling stage four glioblastoma, received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award posthumously. Jim Abbott received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance and Scott received the Pat Tillman Award for Service, moments that shifted the energy from laughter to something more tender and reminded the room why the ESPYs exist in the first place.

Hernández held the evening together effortlessly, the way only someone who has spent years earning a room can. Wednesday night in New York belonged to a Cuban Dominican American comedian who found the precise line between irreverence and warmth and never lost the room once. The history he made was present in every joke he told, not because he announced it but because he lived it.

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