Emmy producers release apology for playing John Oliver off the stage as he dedicated win to dead dog

Producers for the Emmy Awards have issued an apology after they began playing music to get John Oliver off the stage while he was mid-speech.

It's not unusual for award winners to be cut off with music if their speeches go on for too long, but Oliver wasn't just thanking friends and family when he started getting drowned out.

Instead, he had been paying a heartfelt tribute to his dead dog. Take a look:

"I also want to thank, it's going to be very silly, our dog," he said, while picking up the award for outstanding scripted variety show.

"We had the most fantastic dog, and she was at our wedding, she got us through a pandemic, she was with us for two pregnancies and -"

At that point the music began to play, but Oliver made clear he wasn't done as he said: "Perfect choice of music - we had to say goodbye to her."

He then said 'f**k you', and the music cut out to allow him to continue speaking.

"She was an amazing dog and uh, ouch, this isn't just for her, this is for all dogs," he continued, joking: "You’re all very good girls. You’re all very good boys. You all deserve a treat. Play me off now!"

Oliver was praised for his reaction to the awkward situation (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

The awkward moment left viewers cringing, as well as praising Oliver for the way he reacted.

One viewer commented: "Having seen his reaction, I think he was okay joking about it. It was a darkly funny mishap and he played it well."

In the wake of the incident, producers for the awards show have now apologized and insisted they wouldn't have started playing the music if they'd known Oliver's dog had died.

In an interview with TheWrap, producer Jesse Collins said: "I apologize to John and his family for playing the music — and the dog.

"We turned it off at his request and turned it back on when he said he wanted to be played off.”

Emmy producers said they didn't know the dog had died (Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images)

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, executive producer Dionne Harmon added that the producers 'had no idea that the dog that he was talking about had passed away'.

“If you look back, you’ll notice that we turned the music down the moment he said the dog had passed. We didn’t know!," Harmon added.

Harmon went on to say that the producers had previously had some 'funny moments' with Oliver in relation to playing him off stage.

She continued: “We didn’t know where he was going with it, but it seemed like he was a good sport. We never want to have to play people off.”