Director and producer Glenn Weiss won his 12th Emmy in style on Monday night, picking up an “Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special” award for his work on the Oscars then immediately proving his skills of putting on a show by turning his acceptance speech into a marriage proposal, according to reports from Entertainment Weekly .
Weiss opened his speech by paying tribute to his mother, who had passed away two weeks before. “Part of my heart is broken, I don’t think it will ever be repaired, but she’s in me and she always will be,” said the director, before delivering the twist of the night. “Mom always believed in finding the sunshine in things, and she adored my girlfriend Jan. Jan, you are the sunshine in my life, and mom was right, don’t ever let go of your sunshine. You wonder why I don’t like to call you my girlfriend, it’s because I want to call you my wife.”
The crowd immediately erupted into applause as cameras panned over celebrities such as Leslie Jone and Benedict Cumberbatch, who had expressions mixed with joy and surprise. Claire Foy of The Crown even began to get a bit teary-eyed.
“I didn’t ask yet!” Weiss responded to the applause as his girlfriend, Jan Svendsen, joined him on the stage. “This is the ring my dad put on my mom’s finger 67 years ago and to my sisters and brothers, I didn’t swipe it, Dad knows I have it, okay? 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 the couple shared a hug and a kiss.
It could be said that Weiss’ proposal is just another in a long line of the entertaining moments the director has produced. The 57-year-old Weiss has received 24 Emmy nominations over the course of his career directing and producing award shows and reality shows which include some of the nation’s most prestigious awards shows, such as the Tony Awards 16 times, the Oscars three times, and Kennedy Center Honors.
Entertainment Weekly revealed that if Weiss did not get the victory at the Emmys, there was no plan B for his marriage proposal.
“To be honest with you, there was no plan B,” Weiss told reporters backstage. “If this didn’t happen exactly in this way, something else equally big and surprising would’ve happened. Wait until next year? I suppose at the [Governors] Ball, or at In-N-Out Burger, which is our staple after-awards shows.”
