Martin Short Reveals The Real Reason He Was Absent At 2025 SAG Awards

Martin Short is celebrating a major career milestone despite missing out on the big moment in person.

The 74-year-old actor won his first-ever SAG Award at the 2025 ceremony on Sunday, February 23, taking home the trophy for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series for his role in "Only Murders in the Building."

The Hulu hit also won Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, marking its first win in the category after multiple nominations.

However, Martin Short was noticeably absent from the event.

In a statement to Deadline, his rep confirmed that the actor “was not able to attend due to Covid.”

Though he couldn't accept the award in person, Short expressed his gratitude in a statement, saying, “The honor of being in 'Only Murders In The Building' is the most spectacular compliment anyone could be given. The honor of being awarded by your peers is even greater. Thank you so so much.”

His longtime comedic partner and co-star, Steve Martin, was also missing from the ceremony. According to his reps, Martin had a prior scheduling conflict, but he later took to Instagram to congratulate Short, writing, “I’m the buddy of a winner! Congratulations to Martin Short for his best comedy actor award, and thank you SAG for our comedy ensemble award!”

Earlier this month, Martin revealed that Short contracted COVID while attending "Saturday Night Live’s 50th Anniversary" special, leading to the postponement of their "Dukes of Funnytown Tour" performances in Durham, North Carolina, and Knoxville, Tennessee.

The pair was originally scheduled to perform in Tennessee on Sunday. Martin assured fans they would make it up to them, joking on Instagram, “So sorry for the inconvenience. I think we’ll be funnier then, anyway.”

With both of her co-stars absent, Selena Gomez took the stage to accept the award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series on behalf of the "Only Murders in the Building" cast. “We never win, this is so weird,” the 32-year-old actress quipped before playfully calling out her missing colleagues. “Marty and Steve aren’t here because … you know, they don’t really care.”

“But I just don’t know what to say… Thank you to Marty and Steve for helping raise me," she then said with a more serious tone. “I’m genuinely so grateful (to) everybody, the writers, everyone deserves this, and I take it home for all of us, and I’m bringing this back to New York for season five, thank you so much.”

Gomez was joined on stage by Michael Cyril Creighton, Richard Kind, Kumail Nanjiani, and Molly Shannon, while other season 4 cast members, including Eugene Levy, Eva Longoria, and Zach Galifianakis, were also absent from the awards show.

She later posted photos on Instagram of the cast celebrating with their awards, along with snapshots of her with Martin and Short from the show.

“After four seasons, we got our first award as a cast!!! Steve, Marty, you deserve this more than I do. You guys have shaped the character I play on our show,” she wrote.

She also expressed gratitude to the show's crew and praised co-creator John Hoffman as a “brilliant man.” Additionally, she thanked the SAG Awards and Hulu for what she called an “unreal moment that I will cherish with my 'Only Murders' family."

The Hulu series, which premiered in 2021, follows three unlikely friends, played by Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, and Martin Short, who bond over their love of true crime. Their shared obsession leads them to investigate a series of murders tied to their New York City apartment building, the Arconia, attracting a host of celebrity cameos along the way.

Season 4 expanded the show's universe by introducing the residents of the West Tower of the Arconia, also known as the Westies. This new group of characters brought fresh faces to the series, including guest stars Richard Kind and Kumail Nanjiani.

"OMITB" is streaming on Hulu.