Glen Weiss stole the show at the Emmy Awards on Monday night when he used his acceptance speech from the stage to propose to his girlfriend Jan Svendsen.
But while the magic moment melted millions of hearts around the world, some who know Weiss from their days working with him at the Tony Awards were rolling their eyes because it took close to three minutes.
Weiss, who won the Emmy for outstanding directing for a variety special for his work on the Oscars, is also known for his work producing the Tony Awards.
During his work with the Tonys, he is reportedly notorious for lecturing award nominees to keep their acceptance speeches short.
‘While TV audiences seemed enthralled with Glenn Weiss’ on-air proposal to his longtime girlfriend, Jan Svendsen . . . Broadway types were less than thrilled by the display,’ a source well-versed in the theater world told Page Six.
Glen Weiss stole the show at the Emmy Awards on Monday night when he used his acceptance speech from the stage to propose to his girlfriend Jan Svendsen
‘Glenn has produced and directed the Tonys for CBS for many years, and is known as an unforgiving stickler when it comes to keeping acceptance speeches to the allotted 45 seconds.’
During his career, Weiss has directed 18 Tony Awards for the network.
But before the show, he is known to lay down the law for the nominees.
‘Every year, Glenn gives this pompous speech to all the nominees, lecturing everyone about how the clock starts the second your name is called and that going long is unfair to your fellow nominees because it eats time for everyone whose categories come later in the evening,’ a Broadway observer told Page Six.
But while the magic moment melted millions of hearts around the world, some who know Weiss from their days working with him at the Tony Awards were rolling their eyes because it took close to three minutes
‘Leave it to him to completely flout his own rule in order to grab as much attention as humanly possible for him and his girlfriend.’
In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Weiss admitted that he was worried the producers of the Emmys would cut short his speech and force him off stage – as he has threatened to do to Tony winners.
‘I was actually really worried about that, having been in the seat and (knowing) how those shows function,’ he told Kimmel.
‘So, I really kind of ran through what I wanted to say in my head and then as the night was going on, and I saw how much time – I kept editing and filtering and just hoping it wouldn’t go too long, because I didn’t want that to happen.’
It isn’t just Broadway types that were irked by Weiss’ on-stage proposal. His own family is also reportedly miffed. A source close to the Weiss family told Page Six on Tuesday that his two daughters, ages 17 and 21, were ‘completely shocked and blindsided’ by their dad’s stunt
It isn’t just Broadway types that were irked by Weiss’ on-stage proposal. His own family is also reportedly miffed.
A source close to the Weiss family told Page Six on Tuesday that his two daughters, ages 17 and 21, were ‘completely shocked and blindsided’ by their dad’s stunt.
‘He could have been a man and gone to them first and said, “Hey, I’m planning on doing this. I didn’t want you to be surprised”,’ a source said.
‘He’s coming across as this great romantic hero, but it was pretty thoughtless.’