Whenever you put celebrities in a room together, odds are it’s going to be a good time. Now, whenever you put celebrities in a room together with a lot of booze, well, things are definitely going to get interesting. This is one of the reasons why watching award shows is always so much fun — there’s always a chance something shocking will happen on camera.
In fact, history dictates that the Emmy Awards are an award show where just about anything can happen. From unexpected make-outs to surprise proposals and wardrobe malfunctions, the Emmy stage is often a night where the unexpected is, well, expected.
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So, as we get ready for the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, September 15, hosted by father-son duo Eugene and Dan Levy, we’re looking back at Emmy history to the times viewers could barely believe their screens.
Check the most shocking moments in Emmy history below!
The Bear Gets Kissy (2023)
Shortly after Matty Matheson began his acceptance speech on behalf of The Bear for Best Comedy Series at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, his co-star Ebon Moss-Bachrach planted quite a memorable kiss on his co-star. Safe to say the rest of the cast was quite shocked.
Kieran Culkin Asks for Baby Number Three (2023)
At the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, Succession fans were on their feet when Kieran Culkin won the award for Lead Actor in a Drama Series. After his sweet thank you’s to his cast and team, Culkin got choked up making a surprising request to his wife, Jazz Charton. “Thank you for sharing your life with me and giving me two amazing kids, Kinsey Sioux and Wilder Wolf,” he said. “I love you so many and so much. And Jazz, I want more. You said ‘maybe,’ if I win! I love you so much.”
A Dumpster Fire Gone Wrong (2020)
At the 2020 Emmys, Jennifer Aniston came out to help Jimmy Kimmel present the first award — and a gag about Lysol disinfecting got a little too real when it took both of their full efforts with fire extinguishers to put out the very real fire on stage. Ah, 2020, where even jokes about how bad it is went even worse than you could have expected.
A Romantic Spectacle (2018)
Now here’s something we don’t see every day. When Glenn Weiss won the Emmy for Outstanding Directing in a Variety Special in 2018, he surprised his then-girlfriend, Jan Svendsen. “Jan, you are the sunshine in my life, and Mom was right ‘Don’t ever let go of your sunshine,'” Weiss said. “You wonder why I don’t like to call you my girlfriend? Because I want to call you my wife.”
Svendsen then walked to the stage and Weiss got down on one knee and popped the question. Everyone was in tears.
An Unexpected Smooch (2014)
At the 2014 Emmy Awards, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Bryan Cranston proved they had quite a lot of history. When they first took the stage to present an award, Louis-Dreyfus hilariously forgot that Cranston once played Elaine Benes’ love interest on Seinfeld. Then, later on, as she made her way to the stage to accept the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series at the 2014 Emmys, Cranston planted a big ol’ kiss on her to jog her memory.
Miss Emmy Awards (2011)
In pure pageant form, the women nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2011 lined up onstage as their names were called. Despite this clearly being a choreographed skit between them, presenter Rob Lowe was left a bit confused.
Helen Mirren’s Naughty Mouth (2006)
Helen Mirren is someone we never, ever thought would utter a curse word — but Mirren proved us wrong in 2006 while accepting her award for Best Actress. “My great triumph is not falling a– over tit as I came up those stairs,” she said. And because she said it so fast, it wasn’t edited out, either.
Joan Rivers & Eddie Murphy’s Jaw-Dropping Shtick (1983)
These two co-hosted the 35th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in 1983 and got mixed reviews. Just by looking at this two-minute clip, it’s safe to say their jokes weren’t exactly landing. They weren’t invited back.
Punked by The Great Imposter (1985)
Case of mistaken identity? Well, no. Just a guy trying to steal the spotlight. In 1985, actress Betty Thomas was upstaged by a man named Barry Breman (later named The Great Imposter because he’d sneak into A-list parties) who accepted her award for Best Supporting Actress. “Betty was not able to be here and she asked for me to accept this award and thank everybody else who is here,” Breman said into the mic.
As it turns out, Thomas had been there wanting to accept her Emmy, but producers were so confused they cut to a commercial break.
Cartwheels on Stage (1979)
In 1979, Alan Alda was absolutely ecstatic as he won an Emmy for writing an episode of M*A*S*H and was so excited he cartwheeled his way to the stage. His joy lit up the room.
Barbara Stanwyck’s Dress Snafu (1961)
We know that wardrobe malfunctions happen, we just don’t always see them on camera. The back of actress Barbara Stanwyck’s dress completely tore off while she stood up to go onstage. Luckily, she took it like a champ.
Before you go, click here to see all the times celebrity kids stole the show on the Emmys red carpet.
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