Sarah Michelle Gellar Shuts Down Photographer Who Asked Her to Kiss David Boreanaz at the Emmys

At the 2026 Emmy Awards, Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz reunited on the blue carpet nearly 30 years after "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" premiered — and Gellar's response to an awkward request instantly went viral.

As the two former on-screen love interests (Buffy and Angel) posed together, a photographer called out asking them to kiss for the shot. Gellar shut it down on the spot, telling the photographer: "I don't think his wife will appreciate that." The pair — Gellar married to Freddie Prinze Jr. since 2002, Boreanaz married to Jaime Bergman since 2001 — instead posed smiling with their arms around each other.

Clips and write-ups of the exchange spread quickly across entertainment sites and social platforms within a day. Commentators framed the photographer's ask as tone-deaf given both actors' real-life marriages, with reactions calling Gellar's line "classy" and the request itself "such an inappropriate request."

The carpet exchange was a prelude to an emotional on-stage reunion: Gellar and Boreanaz presented together at the ceremony, one of their few joint public appearances since the original series ended in 2003. On stage, they addressed the recent cancellation of a planned "Buffy" revival, and paid tribute to castmates who have died — Anthony Head, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Nicholas Brendon.