Public proposals can be embarrassing for everyone involved, mainly because they leave open the possibility that an entire crowd of people will have to watch a humiliating rejection. No one wants to witness the most heart-shattering moment in a person's life! That's just cruel. Thankfully, that's not how Oscar's director Glenn Weiss' proposal to Jan Friedman Svendsen went down at the 2018 Emmy Awards.
The moment was magical and inspired some of the best celebrity reactions of our time. Benedict Cumberbatch nearly lost his shit, Leslie Jones demanded that her future partner follow suit, and Sterling K. Brown is probably still trying to pick his jaw up from off of the floor. The proposal was a completely welcome surprise, and according to Weiss, it all came together at the last minute.
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The newly engaged couple made a celebratory appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday night and revealed that marriage wasn't something on their radar until very recently. In fact, Weiss said the idea only came to him after his mother died a couple weeks back.
"It's been a rough couple of weeks, and I think maybe I got a little more perspective on life, and it just became clear about a week or two ago that I wanted to do something at some point coming," he said. "I didn't think it would happen this quickly but an opportunity arose."
This would explain why Svendsen had perhaps the most authentic reaction in the history of proposals. (Admit it, married folks, most of us knew it was coming.)
But what would have happened if Weiss hadn't won the award for Outstanding Director for a Variety Special? Well, according to him, the moment could have been postponed to "October or November or the next two or three years." As evidenced by her subsequent head shaking, Svendsen was not thrilled with this answer.
When it comes to the actual wedding ceremony, however, the couple said they're going to take their time to plan it out. This move is probably preferable, since reports have surfaced that Weiss' daughters from a previous marriage were "completely shocked and blindsided" by the proposal. Apparently, Weiss failed to tell them that he had plans to give them a new stepmom before the ceremony, and they have since been a bit humiliated and hurt, sources told Page Six. Hopefully, Weiss and Svendsen can take the next few weeks to put out any possible fires and celebrate their love. After all the joy they brought millions of viewers, they certainly deserve it.
Watch the full clip, below.