Over the weekend, Sofia Vergara suffered what might have been one of the most epic red carpet wardrobe malfunctions in the history of the small screen. While walking past cameras at the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards, the actress' dress split in half directly over her ample behind, revealing both her ass cheeks and her thong.

Vergara handled the situation with astonishing aplomb, tweeting a photo of the accident to her followers with the caption, “Yes!!!! This happend [sic] 20 min before we won!!!! Jajajajja. I luv my life!!!!”

But the New York Post's Page Six reported yesterday that Vergara's fiancé, Nick Loeb, didn't display quite as much grace. As Vergara dealt deftly with her crisis, it appears that Loeb transformed into a snide and ungrateful child, suggesting to whomever would listen that the malfunction was a larger problem for him than it was for her.

“Ugh, I need to smoke a cigarette,” he reportedly said. “Her dress got stuck on the seat and made a huge rip. Her whole fucking ass was sticking out.”

So! This is clearly not the way to help a partner through a difficult moment. Why, we can think of several ways that Loeb could have handled this better, and they don't even include the obvious choice of fetching a needle and thread. Perhaps he could have held a jacket over Vergara's nude crack, or comforted her by saying that really, it's not even that noticeable. At the very least, Loeb could have reminded Vergara that she is in possession of one of the most spectacular asses on television, so having it broadcast across the country and indeed the world was probably only a boon to her career.

But don't take our word for it; sex and relationship expert Dr. Laura Berman agrees that there are more tactful and productive approaches for assisting a loved one during trying times, wardrobe malfunction or otherwise. “Don't necessarily over-exaggerate how horrible it was,” she says, “but certainly don't blow it off and be unsympathetic.”

In other words, don't huddle up in the corner whining about how difficult this is for you and how much you need to smoke as your partner manages a problem by her lonesome. Keep your wits about you, stay focused, and if nothing else, just try to say something nice.

“Sympathize,” says Berman, “and then reassure: 'it wasn't that bad, you couldn't really see it, people might think its endearing,' and in the moment say to them, 'what do you need?'”

Chances are that what they need is something you are well equipped to give.

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