Aside from the random snarky online op-ed writer, Martin Short is universally loved for his high energy humor. So it was on Wednesday when Martin stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live to shill a few projects: Only Murders in the Building on Hulu, the tour he and forever-partner Steve Martin are on, and the announcement of a Netflix documentary coming out about him, appropriately titled Marty, Life is Short. Marty (I can call him that now) was raring to go from the moment he walked out, and the 15-minute interview simply flew by. What’s getting the most attention, though, is a part in the middle where Jimmy asked Marty about Selena Gomez’s September wedding to Benny Blanco. Please enjoy Marty hilariously detailing how he accidentally cut the wedding cake an hour before the bride and groom were meant to do so:
“The wedding was perfect and it was beautiful … So everything was perfect except the night of the reception,” Short said as he began his story.
“It was a big, big party … big tents and at the back of the tent were these individual seating areas with couches and chairs. So that if you had a group, like we had a group, Only Murders in the Building, there was about 12 of us,” he continued, adding that Paul Rudd and his wife Julie were among those he was with.
“And there was a wedding cake by our section but it was a small wedding cake. I just assumed there was a wedding cake for each section in the back,” Short added, to laughs from the audience. “So after a few hours, they haven’t cut their wedding cake yet, Steve [Martin] said he was going to leave.”
Short added while laughing, “Maybe I’d had a cocktail, I don’t know. So I said, ‘Oh Steve you can’t leave’ — I had a fork in my hand. ‘You can’t leave yet without a piece of wedding cake.’ And I cut the wedding cake, one side, cut it the other and then all the people in our group scream, ‘Marty!’”
Short then confirmed: “It was the wedding cake.”
A photo of the “Just Married” love heart cake was then displayed on the screen showing a large slice mark on the side and a fork print as the audience gasped.
“I tried to fix it with a fork,” Short said. “This was bad. This was about an hour before it was to be presented. And so I turned to Paul Rudd and said, ‘So, do we just leave?’”
“And then they called the wedding coordinator and then the chef came out,” he added.
Doing an impersonation of the chef, whom Short said appeared to be French, Short said, “He was like, ‘What the hell happened here?’”
“Then they did surgery but it ended up being like a Hollywood wedding cake and that it was beautiful but now it had a little work done,” he added to huge laughs from the audience.
While Marty had hoped to leave the party with Selena being none the wiser, she found him later and said, “Hey Marty, I hear you tried to eat my cake!” Well-played, Selena. But overall, I’m TEAM MARTY, all the way! Nope, he is in no way at fault here, for obvious reasons. Let’s start with the size and placement of the cake. Selena and Benny reportedly had 170 guests — how on earth was there gonna be enough of that cake for everyone? “C’mon, Kismet, that heart-shaped cake probably wasn’t for everyone, just for the couple and maybe a few others.” Then why wasn’t it set up next to the bride & groom, hmm?? You can’t just leave cake out unguarded, that’s an invitation for premeditated slicing! Doesn’t everyone know that?! (Or is it just people who’ve ever invited me around their cakes who’ve learned this valuable lesson?) Also, how can we possibly have this much coverage of a cake without anyone revealing what kind of cake it was! Vanilla? Chocolate? Lemon? Red Velvet? Coconut? Help us out here, Marty, we need cake details STAT! Or, you know, just cake. Damn, now I really want some cake.
Martin Short mistakenly cut Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco's wedding cake before it was served to guests.
"There was a cake, a wedding cake by our section, but it was a small wedding cake. I just assumed that there was a wedding cake for each section in the back. So, after, you… pic.twitter.com/c3RLXtJXxm
— CONSEQUENCE (@consequence) January 22, 2026
Photos credit: Faye Sadou/Avalon, Getty and via Instagram
He is an angel and we love him!
Honestly, given the context, pretty understandable. Selena seems like the kind of person to take it in stride and see the funny side too.
I love how that cast has bonded. Selena now has 2 crazy uncles and Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd.
Okay, if it’s been hours and people are getting ready to leave and you still haven’t cut (and distributed) the cake, then I’d probably slice into it to. 😏
You know what I dont mind the size of the cake,cake is probably one of the most wasted items of food ever. I dont know how many times I have had to just toss out remaining birthday cakes,even after trying to get people to leave with a slice a huge chunk always turns to rock eventually.
Just in case anyone needs to hear this, you can ABSOLUTELY slice “leftover cake” (what even is that?!) into serving slices, freeze on a baking sheet until the frosting is set, and then wrap in wax/parchment paper in a Ziploc bag in the freezer for future consumption whenever you need a slice of delicious cake. Which for me might be any day that ends in Y. Just set it out to thaw for like 30 minutes or an hour, or just eat it frozen. Either way.
Does anybody else think there was a Costco sheet cake in the kitchen? 😎
Martin Short is adorable, bless him.
Thank you for this story, Kismet. Life feels like a constant doom scroll lately, and I just want to bask in these joyful stories about joyful people.
Marty is like the only person I’d be cool with doing that. Or maybe like Mark Hamill or something.
Ha! That’s a cute story!
Okay, I’ll be honest, my first thought after reading the heading was “How do you ACCIDENTALLY cut into a couple’s wedding cake?” Then, I read the story — I did not watch a video of M. Short’s interview or anything, but having heard him speak before, I could hear his intonations in my head. Now, all I have to say is that those words could probably be etched on someone’s tombstone because they’re so inadequate yet pithy, “I tried to fix it with a fork.” And that line about Hollywood work being performed on the cake: Priceless.
He’s a national treasure
He’s our Canadian national treasure. if you get a chance to read his book:
“I must say, My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend” its pretty great.
Oh Marty, bless your ♥️ ! 😁😁😁
Good thing it wasn’t Brooklyn and Nicola’s cake!
I love Martin Short. No wonder Meryl Streep fell for him. What a lovely, funny man!