Jean Smart, Mariska Hargitay, Taylor Swift and Matthew Rhys Kevin Winter/Getty Images; Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images; Kevin Winter/Getty Images The 2026 Emmy Awards had the audience and viewers laughing, crying and cheering during several memorable moments throughout the Monday night show. From Taylor Swift’s surprise cameo with host Mariska Hargitay and Marcello Hernández’s special invites for Zendaya and Harrison Ford to Noah Kahan’s emotional performance during the In Memoriam and Sarah Michelle Gellar shading Hulu, below are some of the most memorable moments from TV’s biggest night.
Mariska Hargitay Recreates Nicole Kidman’s AMC Ad
Sorry Nicole Kidman, Mariska Hargitay is making it clear that Sunday night is TV’s turn at the 2026 Emmys. In the Law & Order: SVU star’s opening monologue, she spoofed Kidman’s beloved AMC Theatres ad. Hargitay said: “No matter how we watch, and even though we’re worlds apart, we’re all still holding a bit of that communal light. And at the end of the day, we come to TV for magic, to laugh, to cry, to care because we need that, all of us — that indescribable feeling that we get when the lights begin to dim, dazzling images on the silver screen. So that I can feel…” Read more. — Lexi Carson
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Jean Smart Makes History With Hacks
Deborah Vance is having the last laugh. Hacks star Jean Smart has won at the 2026 Emmys for best actress in a comedy series and made history in the process, becoming the first female performer ever to win TV’s highest honor for every season of a series. Smart has now taken home the trophy for all five seasons of Hacks, which wrapped its run this past spring. She has also tied Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Cloris Leachman for the all-time record of Emmy wins by an actress, with eight, having previously won twice for her guest role in Frasier and once for her supporting turn in Samantha Who? When taking the stage, Smart quipped for all the men to stay standing and women to sit down given they are dealing with Spanks, “shoes that are cutting your toes off“ and having to stand up because she‘s old. Read more. — David Canfield
Taylor Swift Makes Surprise Cameo During Pre-Taped SVU Segment
It seems Taylor Swift was conducting her own investigation, alongside Mariska Hargitay, about whether she’ll be making an appearance at the 2026 Emmy Awards Monday night. While Swift wasn’t at the live telecast at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, she did make a surprise cameo during a pre-taped segment that starred Hargitay as Olivia Benson and her other Law & Order: Special Victims Unit co-stars. “The mayor’s office is breathing down my neck, demanding an answer to the big question: Will Taylor Swift be at the Emmys?” Hargitay says at the beginning of the skit. Now, in order to crack a Swiftie case, you’ve got to think like a Swiftie because the Swifties think that everything is a clue to what she’ll do next.” Read more. — Carly Thomas
Sarah Michelle Gellar Shades Hulu Scrapping Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reboot
Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz shaded Hulu’s decision to pull the planned Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot at the 2026 Emmys, and paid tribute the loss of two of the show’s stars. Gellar and Boreanaz hit the Peacock Theater stage to present the award for lead actor in a limited or anthology series or movie, which ultimately went to Matthew Rhys. Their on-stage reunion served as a celebration of the show’s 30th anniversary, which they each acknowledged. “Hard to believe it’s been 30 years since Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered,” Boreanaz began. “I mean, when you think about it, it’s kind of crazy, right? A teenage girl chosen by fate to fight vampires and demons, the forces of darkness, and then she falls in love with a vampire with a soul, carrying around a couple 100 years of regret.” Read more. — McKinley Franklin
Marcello Hernández Invited Zendaya and Tom Holland Over for Dinner While Presenting
Marcello Hernández took a moment to shoot his shot with some A-listers in the room at the 2026 Emmy Awards on Monday night. Before presenting the award for best directing for a comedy series (which went to Hiro Murai for Widow’s Bay), the Saturday Night Live star called out a few celebrities by name to invite them over to his house for dinner. “It’s an honor for me to be here. It’s my first time at the Emmys, and I get to present, so I just wanna take this opportunity to say hi to a few people I might not be able to say hi to later. I don’t know what parties I’ve been invited to and I don’t know what parties you have been invited to, so just very quickly I would like to say hello to Harrison Ford,” Hernández began, as the camera panned to the Shrinking star who was nominated for best supporting actor in a comedy series. Read more. — Carly Thomas
Matthew Rhys Makes Emmy History With Widow’s Bay
When Matthew Rhys accepted his second Emmy of the night, for best actor in a comedy series for Widow’s Bay, he made history. The Welsh actor is now the first performer in history to have won the lead acting Emmy across all three genres, since he won on the drama side back in 2018 for The Americans, and the first man to win two lead-acting trophies in a single night. In his comedy actor acceptance speech, Rhys echoed comedy supporting actor winner Stephen Root‘s praise for showrunner Katie Dippold, specifically her “depraved and twisted mind.” Read more. — David Canfield
Noah Kahan Performs During Emotional In Memoriam
Noah Kahan joined the 2026 Emmy Awards telecast. The singer-songwriter performed a rendition of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge over Troubled Water” during the in memoriam segment. Macaulay Culkin, Annie Murphy and Dan Levy introduced the segment following a tribute to their on screen mother, the late Catherine O’Hara. Kahan is in the midst of a record-breaking year. The 29-year-old earned his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 last month. One of the most hotly anticipated albums of 2026, The Great Divide, had the third-biggest week for an album this year when it was released. Read more. — Nicole Fell
The 78th Emmy Awards, hosted by Mariska Hargitay, aired live from the Peacock Theater on Monday, Sept. 14, on NBC and Peacock. Check out all the winners here and the red carpet arrivals here.
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