From eyebrow-raising outfits to heartbreaking tributes — and a surprise cameo from one crime-solving cat — the Emmys had us feeling every emotion
With all of our favorite TV shows nominated (from The Pitt to Paradise) and Law & Order: SVU legend Mariska Hargitay at the helm, we already knew we were going to be locked in for the Emmy Awards on Sept. 14.
What we couldn’t have predicted? A cameo from Taylor Swift’s cat. John Mulaney picking a fight with DJ Khaled about his philosophy on marital intimacy. Several Emmy Awards records being tied or broken. Hargitay changing her hair up, like, 11 different times.
Yes, it was a night of surprises, style choices, sad moments and Sally Field playing matchmaker, and we recapped it all from you. Ahead, enjoy the best, worst and oops moments of the 2026 Emmys.
Related: See the Best Dressed Stars on the Emmys 2026 Red Carpet!
01 of 21
Best at Being Game and Looking Great
No one has ever looked hotter while doing more ridiculous things set to music, and for that, Mariska Hargitay must be congratulated. After a musical intro to the tune of “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” that required her to get close to bare feet and dance with some men wearing TV sets on her head, she gave a charmingly enthusiastic and self-deprecating monologue as the first woman in 15 years to host the awards. (That’s “15 straight years Amy and Tina said no,” she deadpanned.)
02 of 21
Oops, We Guess He Really Is Retired
Is that Stephen Colbert with a robust salt-and-pepper goatee?! We guess he really has been keeping busy since his show went off the air.
03 of 21
Best Eccentric Aunt Award: Sally Field
Sally Field at first did not seem to want to engage with E! host Keltie Knight’s confession that her celebrity crush Charlie Hunnam had just walked away. (“You’ve gotta do that on your own time, babe,” she said.) Then she thought better of it. “Have you told him how you feel? Maybe you could arrange something,” she mused. Knight demurred; they’re both married. “How do you know it’s really solid?” Field wondered. Is Bravo casting the next Millionaire Matchmaker?
04 of 21
Worst Reminder We Could Have Had This Again
Are we sure that the ageless Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz (reuniting for the 30th anniversary of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) aren’t both vampires? Sadly, we won’t find out, because they canceled the Buffy reboot!
05 of 21
Most: Meg Stalter
We’ll give Meg Stalter (EMMeg Stalter?) this: She never half-commits to a bit.
06 of 21
Oops! It Was Glove at First Sight
Hot off her Emmy win for Paradise last weekend, Shailene Woodley ensured she’d stay in the conversation with this, shall we say, memorably mixed-up look.
07 of 21
Oops, She’s Not Censored, Just Stylish
No, The Gilded Age’s Denée Benton wasn’t giving the good people at E! a challenge: Her dress actually came with its own censor bar.
08 of 21
Best Rewear, Possibly of the Decade
The Charlie’s Angels star proves she can still pull off a kick-ass style maneuver, rewearing the Monique Lhuillier gown she wore to son Gaston’s wedding to the Emmys. “This feels like I’m in my nightgown,” she said of the rewear. “Everybody said, ‘How can you do that?’ And I said, ‘Well, if Princess Kate can rewear something, I can rewear something!’ “
09 of 21
Best Reason to See Red
Mariska Hargitay, Rhea Seehorn (in Louis Vuitton), Jackie Tohn and Niecy Nash stopped traffic in their scarlet gowns.
10 of 21
Best Girls’ Girl: Jean Smart Tells the Women to Stay Seated
Jean Smart got a standing ovation for her fifth straight Emmy win for her role in Hacks, and used the first half of her speech to tell the women in the audience to sit and spare their poor, high heel-clad feet.
“Just the men stay standing. The girls get to sit down,” she declared. “Every time this happens, I think of the girls … You got your Spanx, and your corset, and your tape, and your shoes that are cutting your toes off, and you’re going ‘She’s not that good. We just stood up because she’s old’.”
11 of 21
Best Matching Haircuts: Zendaya and Tom
Who cares if Law Roach keeps casting doubt on whether they’re actually married? Getting twin pixies is even more legally binding than a marriage contract.
12 of 21
Best Night for Fabulous Broads
Allison Janney and Jean Smart were already legends in our minds, but with their record-tying eighth Emmy win each, they’re now officially legends in the history books. Sorry Jean, we’re standing up in our heels for this one.
13 of 21
Worst Headache for the Swifties
Taylor, we’re so tired and we’re going to be up so late tonight. Please don’t make us decode “Saccharide. Aries. From the vineyard. North or south.”
14 of 21
Oops, We Spoke Too Soon
We didn’t know we’d get to see both Olivia Bensons in one place. We forgive you.
15 of 21
Worst Night for Fake Men
The speech John Mulaney gave to introduce the Lead Actor in a Drama Series, a paean to “man’s men,” took aim at both the dad from Bluey and DJ Khaled’s general policy about oral sex. NBC might have bleeped that last part, but we bet everyone in the room was taking notes.
16 of 21
Worst Night for Adir Abergel’s Arm Fatigue
Mariska Hargitay wasn’t just changing her outfits every 15 minutes. She was changing her entire dang hairstyle, too. From a sexy bob to beachy waves to a long, Jayne Mansfield-inspired bombshell blowout (and back again … and again), her hairstylist Adir Abergel, using his Virtue Labs products, really had his work cut out for him. Wigs? Extensions? Sorcery? Whatever the secret, we hope he’s got a massage scheduled for tomorrow.
17 of 21
Best Night for Big Sleeves!
Sitcoms? No thank you. Florence Pugh, Lisa Ann Walter and Claire Danes (in Armani Privé) are partial to drama!!!!!!!!!!
18 of 21
Oops, He Did It Again
Matthew Rhys didn’t just break a record by becoming the first person to win two lead acting awards in one night. He also broke a record by being the first person to win all three lead acting awards in his career. Insert relevant Widow’s Bay gifs here.
19 of 21
Best Reason to Ignore Jean Smart
Painful shoes be damned: The audience was on their feet for extended standing ovations both before and after Michael J. Fox’s acceptance speech for the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award, awarded to him for his work to raise money and awareness for a cure for Parkinson’s disease.
In his speech, Fox said he initially hoped to keep his own diagnosis a secret, fearing what his peers might think.
Instead, he said, “all of you are so uplifting and just made me feel like I could keep doing this. I hadn’t lost what I do, and it couldn’t take it away from me. And it’s because you stood up for me.”
20 of 21
Worst Pit in Our Stomachs: The ‘In Memoriam’
The heartfelt tributes to Dolly Parton (from Reba McEntire), Catherine O’Hara (from her onscreen children Macaulay Culkin, Annie Murphy and Dan Levy) and Rob Reiner (from close friend Jamie Lee Curtis) anchored a deeply sad In Memoriam set to “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” performed by Noah Kahan. Not that it would be possible to forget the tremendous talent lost in the past year, but it was a painful reminder nonetheless.
21 of 21
Oops, Woody Harrelson Gets Stuck in ‘Widow’s Bay’
Is Woody Harrelson willing himself into a guest spot on season 2 of the night’s winner for Best Comedy Series? Did he not see that episode with the Sea Hag?
Photo Editor: Sara Mantich
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