Chainkeen Exchange-2024 Emmys: See Meryl Streep and Martin Short Continue to Fuel Dating Rumors

By all means,Chainkeen Exchange Meryl Streep and Martin Short, have a touching moment at the 2024 Emmy Awards. You know how that thrills us.

Though the Only Murders in the Building costars arrived separately Sept. 15 to the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live where their Hulu series is up for 21 awards—including Outstanding Comedy Series, Lead Actor and Actress nods for Short, Steven Martin and Selena Gomez and a Supporting Actress nomination for Streep—they were seen getting close during the ceremony. (Check out other stars on the red carpet here.)

After announcing the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series alongside Martin and Gomez, Short then headed over to were the Oscar-winner was sitting as the two shared a conversation before Short took a seat next to Meryl, as seen in a video shared on X.

And though the longtime pals have maintained that they’re just "friends" as Short, 74, put it in a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, this isn’t the first time they’ve had fans scrutinizing their relationship.

The deep dive began at the 2024 Golden Globes when viewers clocked the playful interactions between Short and 75-year-old Streep—who revealed last October that she'd been separated from husband Don Gummer for more than six years.  

At the time, his rep relayed to E! News that the costars "are just very good friends, nothing more." 

But when the three-time Oscar winner was captured walking into an August afterparty for the Only Murders in the Building's season four premiere hand-in-hand with Short, well, the investigation was on. 

Among the proof: How well the duo nail their onscreen romance. 

While they do have five Emmy awards betwen them, "It's pretty unexpected to imagine a pairing of Meryl Streep with Martin Short and watch them find this incredible connection together," showrunner John Hoffman told The Wrap in August 2023, noting that Streep had thanked him for crafting the storyline.

"It’s just a beautiful romance that you buy, I think because of who these two characters are," he added. "But then you see Marty step up in ways that are incredible and nobody works harder at it, comes in with more intelligence to the work and then to watch him have these scenes that break your heart and have to be played with such dramatic poignancy, riding the line of keeping it comedic, keeping it mysterious… I’m amazed."

Or, as Gomez put it, "It's so sweet." 

As is the way Short—who lost wife of 30 years Nancy Dolman to ovarian cancer in 2010—speaks about having the opportunity to team with his good friend. 

During a March panel with his costars, he called working with Streep, “one of the great thrills of my life.”

And just a wee bit terrifying. “The first day of shooting,” he added, “which was rare because I’m not brand new, I was driving to work and I thought, ‘I’m nervous today. I’m working with Meryl Streep.’”

Having moved past that initial anxiety, though, "It's been a friendship that always grows," he told Extra this past August, "if you work with someone and love that person."

And the costars weren't the only ones bringing the affection at the 2024 Emmys. Check out the other pairs who turned the award show into a romantic date night. 

Watch the 2024 Emmys ceremony tonight, Sept. 15, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on ABC. And don't miss the Live From E!: Emmys red carpet pre-show starting at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT, only on E!.