The Primetime Emmy Awards were held last night, honoring the the best of television from this past year. While many of the night’s winners thanked the usual people in their acceptances speeches — their agents, family, co-stars, etc. — one TV star used his speech as a tribute to his late dog.
TV host John Oliver won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Scripted Variety Series for his popular HBO series Last Week Tonight, beating out Saturday Night Live.
Oliver thanked his staff and producers, his wife and kids, as well as HBO for “not canceling us over the past decade.” But near the end of the speech, Oliver stopped to thank someone unexpected: his dog.
“I also want to thank – this is going to be very silly – our dog,” Oliver says. “We had the most fantastic dog. She was at our wedding and she got us through the pandemic, she was with us through the two pregnancies…”
The heartfelt speech took an unexpected turn when the producers started playing the “wrap it up” music to play him off. Oliver quipped that it was a “perfect choice of music” as he revealed his dog had passed away: “We had to say goodbye to her.”
After receiving a wave of sympathy from the crowd, Oliver jokingly cursed out the producers trying to cut off his speech: “F**k you, there you go!”
“I feel like Sarah McLachlan right now,” he joked, referencing the musician’s famous anti-cruelty PSAs for SPCA.
“She was an amazing dog,” he concludes, dedicating the award. “This isn’t just for her, this is for all dogs. You’re all very good girls. You’re very good boys. You all deserve a treat.”
According to a 2015 Vanity Fair article, Oliver’s dog was a golden retriever mix named Hoagie, and he was reportedly the host’s first-ever dog.
Oliver said that taking Hoagie for a walk in the park was one of his ways of unwinding, “because a dog just doesn’t engage with the intricacies of the difficulties of your day.”
John Oliver’s heartwarming and slightly profane speech was one of the most memorable moments of the night, and garnered a lot of applause from animal lovers at home and in the audience.
One of the TV stars applauding from the crowd was Oliver’s old Daily Show colleague Jon Stewart, who said goodbye to his own beloved rescue dog Dipper earlier this year.
During one of his returns to host the Comedy Central late night show, Stewart couldn’t hold back tears as he paid tribute to the three-legged dog: “In a world of good boys, he was the best,” Stewart said.
Animal Haven, the shelter where Stewart first met and adopted Dipper, reportedly received nearly $25,000 in donations after the segment aired.
It was heartwarming to see John Oliver dedicate his acceptance speech to his late dog — and to dogs everywhere ❤️
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