Of all the social blunders you could make at a Hollywood awards ceremony, stealing someone’s seat is up there with the worst of them. The seating plan is an intricate work of art. It looks natural enough, yes, but actually, no… it has been carefully constructed to ensure that the VIPs — that’s the top people in TV and film this year — have been given the best seats, in full view of the cameras.

For someone to inadvertently steal such a VIP’s seat, well, it’s a big deal. And it’s a big deal regardless of who the seat-stealer is — VIP in their own right or otherwise. It’s even more of a big deal, however, if the VIP who’s seat is stolen is a particularly important VIP — a nominee for instance. Or like, Meryl Streep.

mariah carey meryl streep getty images

Mariah (left) and Meryl (right) at the 2018 Golden Globes. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

And what if this VVIP happened to be both a nominee AND Meryl Streep — what would happen then…? Best ask Mariah Carey. She can take your questions. Oh yes, at last night’s Golden Globes, the megastar singer found herself suitably red-faced after returning from “mingling” during a commercial break to take, as she saw it, “the first seat available.” Meryl’s seat. (It was right next to Steven Spielberg, FYI. Which would have been a warning sign to us. But anyway, we digress…)

Skip forward to the next commercial break and who should return to claim their chair, but the 31-time Golden Globe nominee and eight-time winner herself. If ever the hashtag #SoVeryAwkward was appropriate, it was here.

“Dear Meryl, please forgive me!!!” Mariah tweeted last night after relaying to fans how the faux pas came about. She followed it with a number of “praise hands” emojis — most appropriate, in our humble opinion. And how did the great Meryl respond? With elegance and grace, naturally. “You can take my seat any time!” she replied. What a star! What a legend! You can take our seat any time too Meryl.

This post was written by Edwina Langley. It originally appeared on our sister site, Grazia Daily.