That Iconic Pic of Phoebe Waller-Bridge Smoking Was Almost Blocked by Amazon

The 2019 Emmys were mostly a wonky mess full of awkward TikTok jokes and terrifying Meryl Streep masks, but at least one genuinely good thing came out of it: that truly blessed image of Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge chilling so hard after winning a zillion much-deserved Emmys. The world collectively lost its mind when BBC comedy head Josh Cole tweeted it out last week, and since then, it has circulated nonstop with a million different captions about its aspirational qualities. But regardless, let's just take a minute and soak it in once again, because the sheer awesome power of the image has yet to lose its luster:

It is a vibe worthy of at least an Emmy nomination on its own, but according to Hollywood Reporter, we almost didn't get to see it at all—because, apparently, Amazon doesn't approve of its stars smoking.

Sources told the THR that Amazon was on-hand during that fateful Chateau Marmont afterparty, and already successfully foiled a few photographers from taking pictures of Waller-Bridge as she celebrated her post-Emmys win by ripping a cig. Luckily, the Amazon folks weren't fast enough to stop Cole from shooting his shot, but THR's source imagines the studio isn't exactly happy about it.

"I'm sure people are upset that [Cole's] photo made it out," the source said, according to Hollywood Reporter. "Smoking is always off-limits. But she was having fun and acting carefree."

If by "having fun and acting carefree" the source meant "elegantly basking in the kind of meteoric success that the rest of us can only dream of," then, yes, that seems right. We common plebes are all lucky that Cole managed to evade the Amazon wet blankets and deliver us this sacred photo.

Thank you for your service, Cole. The world needed to bare witness to such a blessed moment. We are forever grateful.