Frank Micelotta/Invision for Parkwood Entertainment/AP ImagesWhere in the world was Beyoncé?
The music superstar was planning on attending the Emmys, but a source tells me she called in sick.
"She wanted to be there," a source tells me. "But at the last minute, decided it was better if she stayed home because she really was feeling that bad."
I'm told Jay Z and her mom Tina Knowles were supposed to be by her side during the big night. And contrary to reports speculating that she was planning on giving a surprise performance, I'm told that was never part of the Lemonade superstar's plans.
What else didn't you see on TV last night? Read on for all the behind-the-scenes scoop...
1. It was one very hot day. So hot that Ellie Kemper had her own water bottle inside the theater to keep hydrated. For the record, food and drink inside the show is against the rules.
2. Sarah Paulson was the queen of the night. Shortly after her win, she walked back to her seat but not before Margo Martindale gave her hug, followed by a squeeze from Kevin Spacey and another hug and kiss from Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Nearby, Heidi Klum was whispering in Emily Ratajkowski's ear.
3. Taraji P. Henson's change from a yellow dress into her slinkier number before she presented didn't take a long. I'm told he swapped frocks in about five minutes backstage and actually had her second wig in a bag at her seat.
4. Commercial breaks included showing the NFL games on the large screens on the sides of the stage and then an announcer warning folks when they had to get back to their seats. "Thirty seconds back, 20 back, 15 back," the announcer said. "Here we go—five, four, applause, please!" Latecomers were forced to wait outside the theater before being let in at the next commercial break. And winners were asked to keep their acceptance speeches to 40 seconds max.
My new crush pic.twitter.com/aDpuzRi50Y
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) September 19, 2016
5. Leslie Jones didn't sit in the audience. Instead, she hung out in the greenroom, where she apparently got especially excited to meet Ray Donovan star Liev Schreiber. Also hanging backstage and out of sight? Dennis Franz and Jimmy Smits—producers wanted the NYPD Blue reunion to be a total surprise so the two were snuck in through a backdoor.
6. Rami Malek may have had a seat close to the stage, but after he won and returned to the theater, he made a beeline to a few rows back and to the side for celebratory hugs from co-star Christian Slater and show creator Sam Esmail.
7. Before heading to network and studio after parties, most winners made an appearance at the Governors' Ball, where hundreds of glasses of champagne and bottles of Fiji water were lined up on tables at the party's entrance. Spotted walking with their Emmys in hand? Paulson, Malek, Courtney B. Vance, Aziz Ansari, Ryan Murphy, Tatiana Maslaney, Jeffrey Tambor, Jill Soloway and Louie Anderson.