Date 2018-09-18
Category Gist & Gossip
Jaws dropped at the 2018 Emmys when director Glenn Weiss proposed to his longtime girlfriend in the middle of the ceremony.
This isn’t Glenn’s first time winning an Emmy, but it is the first time he’s gotten down on one knee during a live broadcast.
Here’s what you need to know about the newly engaged couple:
1. They Have Been Dating for at Least Six Years
Heavy.com
It’s unclear exactly how long the two were dating before the proposal. However, in 2012, they attended the Governor’s Ball together, suggesting their relationship has lasted at least six years.
They also attended the Emmys together in 2012. Photos from that night show the two posing with one of Weiss’s newly-won statues.
Weiss proposed to Jan with the same ring his father put on his mother’s finger 67 years ago. He joked, “To my sisters and brothers, I didn’t swipe it. Dad knows I have it, okay?”
2. Weiss Proposed After Receiving the Award for Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special
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After being awarded the Emmy for Outstanding Directing at a Variety Special on Monday Night, Weiss proposed to his longtime girlfriend.
He said, “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? Because I want to call you my wife.”
He continued, “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?”
3. Svendsen Is the COO at Charity Network & Spent 17 Years as the Director of Marketing for the Broadway League and the Tony Awards
Director Glenn Weiss (R) and Jan Svendsen attend the 64th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Governors Ball at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on September 23, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.
According to her LinkedIn, Jan Svendsen works as the Chief Creative Officer at Charity Network. There, she “focuses her efforts on creating content, developing strategic partnerships, working on film projects for 2929 Entertainment and business development for Charitybuzz and Prizeo.”
Prior to her time there, she was the Director of Marketing and Business Development of The Broadway League. She was also the Director of Marketing and Business Development at The Tony Awards.
Svendsen graduated from San Diego State University-California State University in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. She went on to receive her Master’s Degree in marketing.
4. Weiss Has Won 11 Emmy Awards
Tonight was not Weiss’s first Emmy.
To date, he’s taken home 11 Emmy Awards and 6 Directors Guild of America awards.
His biggest advice when it comes to acceptance speeches? Be yourself. In an interview with Backstage, Weiss says, “The biggest advice that I could give somebody up there for the first time and having sat in the director’s seat from everything to the Oscars to the Emmys to the Tonys to all sorts of awards shows, what really resonates and lands with viewers at home is being yourself and speaking passionately from the heart. When pieces of paper start coming out and you’re reading names of agents (no offense to agents, I have one, I love mine), but when you are being yourself and speaking about the project, speaking about your co-actors, speaking about your director, speaking about anything about this project that makes me see you as you, not the character that you play. That’s always a really great way to go. And at the end of the day, we try to keep everyone to time, [but] nobody is going to be played off when they’re talking emotionally about something really, really important. So it really is about being yourself and speaking passionately because at the end of the day, that’s what everybody hopes to hear from you.”
5. Fans & Friends Flocked to Social Media to Congratulate the Couple
The Twittersphere exploded after Weiss got down on one knee, with people congratulating the couple and saying how shocked they were that something like this was happening at the Emmys.
John Billinson wrote, “There’s confidence, and then there’s planning your entire proposal around winning an Emmy confidence.” Alex Goldschmidt said, “The #Emmys proposal is the best thing to happen in an awards show ever.”
Others tweeted photos of Leslie Jones, who seemed to be more shocked than anyone with the engagement.
the best part of the emmys so far has been darren chris winning and leslie jones’s reaction to that proposal. #EmmyAwards2018 pic.twitter.com/ukWtjoouAp
— breadloser (@clurb0) September 18, 2018
Curled from Heavy.com
