The 2026 Emmys at the Peacock Theater. Rich Polk/Variety via Getty Images Television’s biggest night, the Emmy Awards, has come and gone, and the Mariska Hargitay-hosted telecast was filled with musical numbers, celebrity cameos (we’re looking at you, Taylor Swift) and teary acceptance speeches.
But there are also a few things that the cameras missed, that only people in the audience could’ve seen. Below, The Hollywood Reporter lays out what wasn’t seen on TV:
- When Jean Smart made history winning her fifth Emmy for her role in Hacks, she received the biggest and longest standing ovation — at least, until Sally Field won lead actor in a limited/anthology series or movie later in the night for her performance in Remarkably Bright Creatures.
- During the commercial breaks, the production team kept playing the White Lotus theme song.
- John Mulaney’s (what seemed like) impromptu stand-up bit absolutely killed in the room. The comedian took the stage to present the best actor in a drama series category. Part of his bit was even bleeped for audiences at home: “I believe it was DJ Khaled who said real men don‘t go down on their wives. But these nominees know that that is BS. They know there‘s often less pressure on them if they do that first,“ he continued referencing quotes Khaled made on New York Power 105.1’s Breakfast Club in 2014.
- Before Widow’s Bay completely swept the comedy categories, winning 14 Emmys in total, an Apple rival in the lobby of the Peacock Theater was overheard bitching about all of the overexcited, screaming Apple executives. A few other attendees in the lobby acknowledged what a flex it was for Hargitay to get both Taylor Swift and Jalen Brunson to do pretaped pieces with her. Others chatted about how TV Academy president Cris Abrego is pulling out all the stops to try to sell the Emmys: For example, moving several awards to the Creative Arts Emmys the weekend prior, putting certain stars at the front of the audience, having actors plugging shows on seemingly every platform (ehem, Fox’s Baywatch) and more.
- Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos was being swarmed by agents as he walked through the lobby, and the Colbert staff was applauded as they walked into the lobby with their freshly-won best variety series Emmy.
- Matthew Rhys became the first man in Emmys history to win two lead acting nods in the same year (one for The Beast in Me, one for Widow’s Bay). In both speeches, the actor hilariously forgot to thank his wife and fellow Emmy nominee Keri Russell. Backstage, Rhys joked about their “playful” competition at home, but in all seriousness said his wife is “always the winner.” He waited to go to the mic to watch Widow’s Bay director Hiro Murai win for directing. In terms of his The Beast in Me win, he said, “I genuinely didn’t think I would get it for Beast. And so that was such a shock.”
Matthew Rhys jokes about competing with partner Keri Russell after his two big wins at the #Emmys pic.twitter.com/8FtKfVp7bO
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) September 15, 2026
- In fact, the backstage press room garnered a lot of unseen moments. When Alan Cumming appeared after this best reality competition program win, he told reporters that producers think Nicole Kidman would be “great in a green cloak,” and he had heard tonight that Riz Ahmed wanted to be on the show.
- Also backstage, a KTLA reporter asked Allison Janney, who won the Emmy for best supporting actress in a drama for her role in The Diplomat, about Savannah Guthrie’s mom. The reporter mentioned that last time they spoke it was about Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, and Janney said “I truly think about her every day.”
- Backstage, Field talked more about her relationship with Dolly Parton following her tribute onstage to the late icon. “There were moments where we tried to reach each other, but you know, this is a weird world I live in. This acting world, where you do films and you’re bonded with this group of people? It’s like being in battle together. And you save each other’s lives, and you got each other’s backs, and you spend 24/7 with each other. And we would go shopping together, all of us, and go to Walmart together. Can you imagine all of us coming into Walmart? And Dolly and I live so far apart, we can never make ends meet, we can never find a way. But I never stopped feeling that way about her. And the times we did reach out, I think she felt that way about me. So I love her.”
- Keke Palmer was announced as a presenter but was a no-show. The actress was set to present the award for outstanding directing for a comedy series at the ceremony on Monday alongside SNL star Marcello Hernández, but Hernández ultimately walked out onstage by himself. THR has reached out to Palmer’s team for comment as to why she was absent.
Brande Victorian, Lacey Rose, Kirsten Chuba, Nicole Fell and David Katz contributed to this report.
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