Jamie McPhee is criticizing the Television Academy after her late husband’s name was left out of the Emmys’ In Memoriam tribute. McPhee’s husband, James Ransone, played Ziggy Sobotka in The Wire and died by suicide in December 2025.
McPhee addressed Ransone’s exclusion from the awards season on her Instagram stories on Monday night, according to Entertainment Weekly. This marks the second time this year that Ransone was left out of an In Memoriam tribute, as he was also excluded from the Oscars segment back in March.
“My husband James Ransone was not acknowledged in memoriam at tonight’s Emmys,” McPhee wrote. “He was also not at the Oscars earlier this year.” She referred to her husband by his nickname, PJ, and described him as “impossible, lovable, intolerable, and incredible.”
McPhee added that Ransone “wouldn’t care” about the omission and “would actually think it’s funny.” In a second story posted on Tuesday afternoon, she explained that she had not watched the ceremony and later realized what had happened.
“James Ransone was an incredibly gifted actor and it simply is not right to not acknowledge him and his work,” she wrote.
In a statement to EW, a Television Academy spokesperson said there’s “a limit on how many people can be acknowledged” in the broadcast segment. His name is included in an extensive online tribute video.
What else did James Ransone star in besides The Wire?
Beyond The Wire, Ransone built a diverse career across both TV and film. His other TV credits include HBO’s Generation Kill, SEAL Team, Treme, How to Make It in America, Low Winter Sun, Bosch, and Poker Face. His other notable appearances include Law & Order and Hawaii Five-0.
On the film side, he starred in Sean Baker’s award-winning 2015 indie film Tangerine and played Deputy So-and-So in the Sinister franchise. Other notable films include The Black Phone, Black Phone 2, and It Chapter Two.
Ransone was 46 years old at the time of his death.