We’ve all been there – you spot someone so impossibly gorgeous that you freeze completely and do absolutely nothing about it. Most moms, when their gay son confesses that kind of crush, offer a sympathetic smile and maybe a cup of tea.
Sally Field is not most moms – and back in 2018, she proved it in the most gloriously public way possible.
It started with a private text. It ended with a two-word tweet that the entire internet applauded. And in between, there was an Olympic figure skater, a very mortified gay son, and one of the most unexpectedly wholesome celebrity matchmaking attempts anyone had ever witnessed.
Seven years later, the story still holds up – because it was never really about the crush. It was about a mother who saw her gay son hesitate, and decided she wasn’t going to let him talk himself out of it.
Here’s how it all went down.
The Text That Started It All
It was February 2018, and the PyeongChang Winter Olympics were in full swing. Adam Rippon – 28 years old, openly gay, and already being called America’s Sweetheart by pretty much everyone with a pulse – had just helped Team USA win bronze in the figure skating team event.
He was funny, he was sharp, and he skated like he was performing in a one-man show where he also wrote the script.
Sally’s youngest son, Sam Greisman – a writer, director, and producer who, yes, happens to be the son of a two-time Oscar winner – was watching along with the rest of us. And apparently, he was feeling some things. Also like the rest of us.
But he texted his mom.
Her response? “Sam… he’s insanely pretty. Find a way.”
Sam, being a gay man with an extremely online personality and apparently questionable judgment about what to post publicly, shared the screenshot on Twitter.
Just some really helpful advice from my mom on how to deal with my Olympic crush. pic.twitter.com/shYCXwNOMf
— sam greisman (@SAMGREIS) February 17, 2018
Twenty-seven thousand likes later, it was clear the internet agreed with Sally’s assessment entirely. What Sam didn’t anticipate was what his mother would do next.
The Most Mom Move in the History of Mom Moves
Sally Field saw her son’s tweet. She retweeted it. And then – and this is the part that separates a regular supportive mom from a legendary one – she tagged Adam Rippon directly.
Just a simple tag. No message. Just: here you go, Olympic figure skater. My son thinks you’re insanely pretty. Do with that what you will.
Sam’s response was a single word: “Yikes.”
It was the most relatable reaction in recorded history. There is nothing quite like your mother publicly flagging your crush on Twitter for 500,000 people to witness, especially when your crush is an active Olympian who is currently mid-competition in South Korea.
For a few days, Adam himself stayed quiet. He was, to be fair, a bit busy competing at the Winter Olympics. But the world was waiting.
Who Is Adam Rippon – And Why Was Everyone Obsessed?
If you somehow missed the Adam Rippon moment of 2018, here’s what you need to know.
Adam grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania – the eldest of six kids – and started skating at ten years old. He spent years on the edge of Olympic qualification, narrowly missing the 2010 and 2014 teams, before finally breaking through.
By the time he arrived in PyeongChang, he was 28, making him the oldest American figure skater to make his Olympic debut since 1936.
He came out publicly in 2015 – quietly, in the middle of a long interview with Skating Magazine – and by 2018 he had become the first openly gay American man to qualify for a Winter Olympics.
He won bronze as part of the team event, making him the first openly gay American to medal at the Winter Games.
And then there was the personality. Sharp, self-deprecating, and completely unwilling to dial anything down. “I’m not a gay Olympian,” he said during the Games. “I’m just an Olympian. And I happen to be gay.”
He called himself America’s Sweetheart and meant it without an ounce of irony. He also called himself a witch and said you couldn’t kill him.
He was, in short, exactly the kind of person you’d develop an Olympic crush on. Sam Greisman had taste.
Adam Finally Responds – And It’s Everything
After the Olympics wrapped, a BuzzFeed reporter sat Adam down and filled him in on everything that had been happening on the Sally Field side of the internet.
His initial reaction was an excited scream. Then: “She bold.”
He turned directly to the camera and addressed Sam: “Sam, your mom – I admire her. And I’m sure one day we’re going to meet! So thanks, Mom.”
Meanwhile, Sally had told BuzzFeed she was stepping back – slightly. “Sam was mortified,” she admitted. “I have to bud out now… but I would like to see Adam in the family.” And then, because she is Sally Field and cannot be stopped, she added: “I like to believe I raised him with the good sense to choose a great partner.”
The universe, it turned out, was listening.
“Thanks, Mom”
On March 10, 2018 – less than a month after the Twitter saga began – Sam Greisman posted a photo on Twitter. He was standing next to Adam Rippon at the 2018 Human Rights Campaign Los Angeles Dinner, where Adam had just received the organization’s Visibility Award, presented by fellow openly gay Olympian Gus Kenworthy.
The caption was two words: “Thanks, mom.”
Thanks, mom. pic.twitter.com/m25Er4EEfD
— sam greisman (@SAMGREIS) March 11, 2018
It was perfect. It was the only possible caption. It was exactly what Sally Field deserved.
Sam later reflected on the meeting, admitting he had been “very shy and a little embarrassed” – but that Adam turned out to be exactly what you’d hope. “He is a very cool, nice guy,” Sam said. “It was totally fine.”
When asked whether sparks had flown, Sam was pragmatic: “Adam is very busy. He hasn’t got time to be dating or doing anything like that.”
Fair. The man had just won Olympic bronze, collected a TIME 100 Most Influential People honor, and was about to go on to win Dancing with the Stars as the first openly gay man to take that title. His schedule was full.
The Kind of Mom We All Deserved
What makes this whole story hit differently isn’t the celebrity of it. It’s the Sally Field of it.
This is a woman who, when Sam came out to her, “didn’t bat an eye.” Who accepted the Ally for Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign while her son stood next to her on stage. Who told Oprah that being able to raise “a magnificent, proud, intelligent, funny, lovable, sexy, gay son” was one of the great privileges of her life.
And who, when that same son texted her about his Olympic crush, texted back “Find a way” – and then, when he wouldn’t, found the way herself.
Sam once joked at an HRC gala that his mother was almost too supportive – that there were parts of his dating life he was simply not going to share with her. Which, given what happened when he did share just a little, seems like very wise policy.
But in that moment in February 2018, it was exactly right. A gay son with a crush. A mother who refused to let him talk himself out of it. A very public, very chaotic nudge toward a man who really was, as advertised, insanely pretty.
Some things you just have to thank your mom for.