Glenn Weiss’ Emmy’s proposal: Everything you need to know from the proposal itself to celebrity reactions afterwards
Weiss’ mother passed away a couple of weeks ago
The biggest surprise at the Emmy’s this year was Glenn Weiss’ proposal to his girlfriend. Find out all the details, Weiss’ own recounting of the event and reactions here.
During his acceptance speech for Director of a Variety Special, Weiss surprised the audience by proposing to his girlfriend, Jan Svendsen. After thanking her for being the “sunshine” in his life and for being someone his mother loved, Weiss said, “You wonder why I don’t like to call you my girlfriend? Because I want to call you my wife.”
The audience immediately erupted into applause after they realized what had happened. From the audience, Svendsen mouthed the word “yes“. She then joined Weiss onstage and he offered her a ring that his dad gave to his mother 67 years ago. Weiss announced, “And to my sisters and brothers, I didn’t swipe it! Dad knows I have it, OK?”
He then asked Svendsen, “Jan, I want to put this ring that my mom wore on your finger in front of all these people and in front of my mom and your parents watching from above. Will you marry me?” Svendsen said yes, and Weiss joked, “Thank you to the Academy.”
Meet the acceptance speech that saved the #Emmys, courtesy of the winner of Directing for a Variety Special Glenn Weiss. Not a dry eye in the house!! My house. (I am home alone.) 😪💍❤️ pic.twitter.com/DdQzjALDmf
— Michelle Collins (@michcoll) September 18, 2018
Weiss said backstage that he had not ever planned on proposing. Then he faced an “interesting couple of weeks” with his mother passing away, and “It became a thought. … The thought picked up steam as we got here. This was coming. The timing just lined up very nicely, and it was a really magical moment.”
Weiss also explained, “Walking around on the carpet like nothing’s happening with this thing sitting in my pocket was very nerve-wracking.” He also joked that had he not won, he would have proposed somewhere less high profile and with lesser publicity. He explained, “I suppose the [Governors] Ball or In-N-Out Burger, which is our staple after awards shows.”
John Oliver later joked during his acceptance speech for Best Variety Talk Series, “On behalf of everyone in this room, we’d like to thank Glenn Weiss’ fiancée. This could have been a very different evening.” Matthew Rhyss also joked about the proposal during his acceptance speech for Best Actor in a Drama Series. Thanking his partner Keri Russell, Rhys said, “She said, ‘If you propose to me, I’ll punch you clean in the mouth.’”
Here’s what Glenn Weiss’s proposal looked like inside theater — everyone on their feet just in awe it was really happening. What’s crazy is #Oscars director used #EMMYS stage for proposal. “That was an amazing moment,” said guy behind me. “Good thing they didn’t play him off.” pic.twitter.com/cVBcNWZh2P
— Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) September 18, 2018
Celebrities present at the event and those watching at home rose up to celebrate with Weiss.
The Emmy’s were hosted by Michael Che and Colin Jost.