James Ransome’s widow calls out Emmys for leaving ‘Wire’ actor out of in memoriam

James Ransome’s widow, Jamie McPhee, called out the Emmys for leaving the late “Wire” actor out of the In Memoriam segment during Monday’s show.

“My husband @jamesransone was not acknowledged in memoriam at tonight’s Emmys,” McPhee wrote on her Instagram Stories Monday night. “He was also not at the Oscars earlier this year.”

She went on to say her husband, who she called PJ, was “impossible, lovable, intolerable and incredible — depends on who you ask. But without question — he was a great actor.”

“But good news is PJ wouldn’t care” about the snub, she wrote. “He’d actually think it’s funny.”

In a follow-up post, McPhee noted that she didn’t watch the 2026 Emmys, “so [she] only now understand[s] how much of a snub this truly was.”

“I am incredibly disappointed @televisionacad. @Jamesransone was an incredibly gifted actor and it simply is not right to not acknowledge him and his work,” she concluded.

Ransone portrayed Frank Sobotka’s (Chris Bauer) son, Baltimore dock worker Ziggy, in the second season of “The Wire.” He appeared in 12 episodes in 2003.

He also had roles in the shows “Generation Kill,” “Treme” and “Bosch.” His final TV appearance was in a Season 2 episode of “Poker Face” that aired in June 2025.

Fans noticed that several familiar names were noticeably missing from the In Memoriam segment this year.

Of the left out stars were Daveigh Chase, Nicholas Brendon, Chuck Norris and Robert Redford.

On the Television Academy’s website, they gave a statement as to why some stars were not recognized during the segment.

“One of the most popular portions of each year’s Primetime Emmy Awards telecast is the In Memoriam segment, a moving video salute to notable television figures who passed away since the previous year’s ceremonies,” their statement read.

“Unfortunately, due to inevitable time limitations, the producers of the telecast are not able to include all of the worthy television professionals who have passed away from year to year.”

In turn, the academy created an In Memoriam database on its website where fans can access late stars’ obituaries — where Ransone is included.

The “Wire” star died by suicide in December 2025. He was 46.

His cause of death was listed as “hanging,” while his place of death was listed as “shed.”

In 2021, Ransone came forward as a sexual abuse survivor.

The actor said that his former tutor, Timothy Rualo, sexually abused him numerous times at his childhood home in Phoenix, Maryland, over the course of six months in 1992.

In a public letter, he wrote that the alleged abuse led to a “lifetime of shame and embarrassment” and later led him down the road of addiction, before getting sober in 2006.

Ransone and McPhee wed in 2017 and shared two children: son Jack, 7, and daughter Violet, 5.