Conan O'Brien's Stage Crashing Antics at the 2021 Emmy Awards Was Partly Stephen Colbert's Idea

Conan O'Brien had fans and the audience laughing when he crashed the stage during Stephen Colbert's Emmy acceptance speech. However, Colbert is partly responsible for the incident.

In every awards show, there is usually an incident that sparks laughter from fans and the audience. This year was no different as TV personality Conan O'Brien decided to crash the stage when TV host Stephen Colbert accepted his award.

Colbert and his crew won the Emmy Award for Best Live Variety Special for "Stephen Colbert's Election Night 2020." As they walked on stage, they had an extra guest arrive with them.

O'Brien was one of the first people on the awards stage and was cheering loudly. Before accepting the award, Colbert gave O'Brien a large hug, and then O'Brien stood behind Colbert as he gave his acceptance speech.

However, it turns out Colbert had a hand in the supposed crash. He admitted during a backstage interview with Variety that he told O'Brien to join him on stage:

"I said why don’t you come on stage with us if we win, He said, 'Really?' And I said, yeah. And he said, 'OK, but if you change your mind let me know.' "

The late-night host joked that O'Brien was not in the post-win interview because he fired him a few minutes before, explaining that due to the pandemic, they had to fire people, and he was the first to go because of his height.

In all seriousness, Colbert stated that he wanted to pay his respects to O'Brien, who wrapped up his show after 11 seasons. He told Variety that they loved O'Brien and were honored to be huge fans of him.

Unfortunately, O'Brien did not win an Emmy award this year.

He emphasized this sentiment in another interview backstage with Emmy correspondent Marc Istook. The correspondent asked how much of the award belonged to O'Brien.

Although it was a perfect moment to make a joke, Colbert instead spoke of his appreciation for the former TV show host, recognizing his influence in the industry. He said:

"Conan O'Brien is influential to all of the people up on stage and I could not be more thrilled that he went up there."

Colbert explained he was the happiest man in the world when he walked onto the stage and saw O'Brien and could hug him. Back to joking, Colbert stated he always wanted to work for O'Brien but was never hired.

Unfortunately, O'Brien did not win an Emmy this year. The longtime talk show host was nominated for Outstanding Variety Talk Series but lost to John Oliver and his show, "Last Week Tonight."

Oliver admitted during his acceptance speech that he hoped O'Brien would win the category. However, he had no guilt backstage when he was showing off his two awards.

The TV news host said that although it might mean O'Brien would go home empty-handed, he was not prepared to share his award with him and joked that O'Brien would have to take it out of his dead and cold hands.