John Oliver has no hard feelings about his Emmys speech being interrupted.
Last Week Tonight took home Outstanding Scripted Variety Series at Sunday night’s ceremony, beating out Saturday Night Live in the semi-new category for the second year in a row. Oliver accepted the honor on behalf of the show, and delivered a heartfelt speech thanking his family—including his beloved dog, who passed away last week.
“We had the most fantastic dog,” the Last Week Tonight host said. “She was at our wedding, she got us through a pandemic, and she was with us for two pregnancies.”
It was then that the orchestra began trying to play him off. In true late-night host fashion, he used the solemn instrumentals to crack a joke. “Perfect choice of music,” he remarked, revealing that the family recently had to “say goodbye” to their beloved pup.
“F**k off,” he added jokingly to the orchestra. “I feel like Sarah McLachlan here.”
Oliver took the whole incident in stride. Addressing the flap from the press room shortly after his win, the Last Week Tonight host revealed that he actually felt “slight relief” when the orchestra began playing.
“I’m not well-versed in sincerity as a British person and as a comedian,” Oliver explained. “So I didn’t really want to get upset. And thankfully whoever was on that board said, ‘You can’t carry this off,’ and walked me straight into a joke.”
“I’m very, very grateful that they gave me the parachute so that I could avoid my feelings once more,” he added.
