Fans are calling out Kathy Hilton for applying lip gloss during Mariska Hargitay's speech

Mariska Hargitay won the female TV star of 2022 accolade at the People’s Choice Awards on Dec. 6, but the “Law & Order: SVU” star had some unexpected competition for the spotlight during her acceptance speech.

That’s because, just as the 58-year-old was raving about the honor, one of the presenters standing by her side — “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Kathy Hilton — decided it was a perfect moment to touch up her makeup onstage.

Bravo fan account Queens of Bravo shared a clip of the incident on Twitter, along with the caption, "While Mariska was accepting her award, KATHY STARTED TO APPLY LIP GLOSS OMG 💀😭"

The 63-year-old, who was one of six "RHOBH" stars onstage to give Hargitay her award, wasn't subtle about it either.

While the honoree told the audience how touched she felt to receive an award chosen by the public, Hilton pulled a sparkling handbag out from under her arm, opened it up, dug around in it for a few seconds, and then, upon finding what she was looking for, she put on the lip gloss in clear view of the camera.

The oddly timed moment left fans reeling on social media.

"Kathy better show a little more respect to THEE Olivia Benson," one tweeted, namechecking Hargitay's "SVU" character. "Im gonna let her slide because I like her though."

Others were a bit less forgiving.

"How rude," another viewer wrote. "first she wouldn’t step over so Mariska could give her thank you alone then she takes out lipstick and applies it, which was done on purpose. Not cool, Kathy."

Another fan agreed the gesture "comes off as rude," adding, "A woman of such standing knows when to do what. Can you imagine the bridesmaids at her daughter’s wedding doing such things, or the best man taking out a mirror to fix his hair mid vows exchange? She would have flipped."

But some weren't so quick to condemn Hilton for the awards show faux pas.

"I feel like this is her defense mechanism for when Kathy is uncomfortable and doesn’t know what to do," a "Real Housewives" fan noted. "She’s fidgety and goes straight for her lip gloss. I don’t think she’s trying to be rude it just came across as such."

Another sympathetic fan wrote, "All these people saying Kathy’s rude…. Um I’m sorry dry lips wait for no one."

Finally, amid the contrasting comments, there was one person who found a middle ground, declaring that Hilton freshening up her gloss during Hargitay's big moment wasn't really rude — but it wasn't exactly appropriate, either.

"Everyone crying how rude Kathy is for applying lipstick while Mariska gives her acceptance speech," they wrote. "It’s not that rude….it’s just tacky… like applying makeup in a restaurant."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com