The announcement earlier this week that ‘Glee’ star Cory Monteith would be honoured at tonight's 2013 Emmy Awards stirred up some controversy.

Critics of the decision have questioned if Monteith’s relatively short television career should warrant him a memorial place among such acclaimed and seasoned actors as James Gandolfini.

Executive producer Ken Ehrlich defended the decision while talking to Access Hollywood, explaining that the cause of the actor’s death – of a mixture of heroin and alcohol – has something to do with his memorial.

“I do think when people see this, [when] they see that there’s kind of a message involved and what we’re saying about him, they may revise some of this early unfair advance criticism,” he said.

However, he was quick to downplay the idea that the memorial would be an anti-drug message

“I don’t want to go that far, but there certainly is – yes, there’s a message in this presentation that I think is a good message for people,” he said. “It does celebrate [Cory], because he really did significant work on that show, but it also, in a way, is a warning.”

Watch Monteith and his castmates appear in the opening scenes of the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards with host Jimmy Fallon below: