Ayo Edebiri Fangirled Over Reba McEntire At The Emmys

Ayo Edebiri is all of us. While walking the red carpet at the 2024 Emmy Awards, the actor ran into Reba McEntire — a presenter at the ceremony — and completely fangirled.

As documented in a viral video, Edebiri was overwhelmed when she unexpectedly came face-to-face with McEntire. She repeatedly exclaimed "Oh, my God!” and covered her mouth in shock. “I’m trying to be so normal,” she told McEntire. “Literally, my legs are shaking.”

Eventually, Edebiri caught her breath enough to praise both McEntire and her Reba co-star Melissa Peterman. “I’ve truly spent so many hours of my life with the both of you!” she said. Peterman confessed to being a fan of Edebiri’s show The Bear, retorting, “We’re spending so many hours with you right now.”

Luckily, Edebiri was able to commemorate her fangirl moment by posing with McEntire and Peterman on the red carpet. “How am I in the middle? That’s crazy,” Edebiri said.

After their encounter, Edebiri told E!’s preshow host Laverne Cox that she “absolutely freaked out” seeing McEntire. “I really, really am proud of myself for not singing the entire theme song,” she said, nodding to “I’m a Survivor” — the theme song of McEntire’s eponymous 2001 sitcom, which became a viral TikTok sound in the past year.

But The Bear star could only hold it in so long, and wound up serenading Cox instead. “A single mom that works too hard, who loves her kids and never stops!” she sang. “Hey, I'm a survivor, OK?”

For the second year in a row, Edebiri was nominated for her performance in The Bear — the most-nominated series of 2024. At the 2023 ceremony, she was named Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series; this year, she was moved to the Lead Actress category, which she lost to Jean Smart, who won her third Emmy for Hacks.