Only Murders in the Building, Hulu’s popular murder mystery comedy starring Selena Gomez, Martin Short, and Steve Martin, lost out for Outstanding Comedy Series at Sunday night’s Emmy Awards for the fourth year in a row.
But winning the trophy seemed like the last thing on their minds when cameras panning across the audience caught a cute interaction between the three stars and Gomez’s fiancé Benny Blanco.
In the short clip, posted to social media by Deadline, Short can be seen looking down on his phone beaming ear to ear, as Martin, sitting to his left, leans over to say something in his ear.
Meanwhile Gomez, taking in the interaction from one seat over, smiles and makes an “aww” expression. She then turns to Blanco and appears to tell him, “Marty’s texting Meryl,” referring to Short’s rumored girlfriend and co-star, Meryl Streep.
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Short and Streep first sparked dating rumors when the Academy Award-winning actress starred in the third season of Only Murders in the Building in 2023, playing a love interest to Short’s character Oliver Putnam, as well as a possible murder suspect. The pair’s chemistry was so magnetic that it didn’t take long for fans to question whether their relationship extended beyond the on-screen romance.
While speaking with The Wrap, showrunner John Hoffman gushed over the natural connection between Short and Streep.
“It’s pretty unexpected to imagine a pairing of Meryl Streep with Martin Short and watch them find this incredible connection together and, as Meryl said, to not have it be twee or about the age or about any of that,” Hoffman said. “It’s just a beautiful romance that you buy, I think because of who these two characters are.”
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From there, the pair continued to incite speculation by appearing cozy together at various events. Then in August 2024, they set the rumors blaze when they were seen walking hand-in-hand at season 4 premiere of OMITB.
Though they’ve never confirmed the rumored relationship, Page Six exclusively reported in March that Short and Streep had been dating for “well over a year now.”
“Meryl couldn’t help but fall for Martin,” a source claimed. “He is a gentleman, he keeps her laughing and is an all-around positive person. She loves being around him.”
In either case, fans—as well as their co-stars—are clearly invested in the longtime friends finding love again. Previously Streep was married to sculptor Don Gummer for 40 years before they separated in 2018, while Short was married to actress Nancy Dolman for 30 years before she passed away from ovarian cancer in 2010.
