diff --git src/wp-includes/class-oembed.php src/wp-includes/class-oembed.php
index c25b8cbac8..f319270838 100644
--- src/wp-includes/class-oembed.php
+++ src/wp-includes/class-oembed.php
@@ -319,19 +319,18 @@ class WP_oEmbed {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * The do-it-all function that takes a URL and attempts to return the HTML.
+	 * Takes a URL and attempts to return the oEmbed data.
 	 *
 	 * @see WP_oEmbed::fetch()
-	 * @see WP_oEmbed::data2html()
 	 *
-	 * @since 2.9.0
+	 * @since 4.8.0
 	 * @access public
 	 *
 	 * @param string       $url  The URL to the content that should be attempted to be embedded.
 	 * @param array|string $args Optional. Arguments, usually passed from a shortcode. Default empty.
-	 * @return false|string False on failure, otherwise the UNSANITIZED (and potentially unsafe) HTML that should be used to embed.
+	 * @return array|false oEmbed data array on success, false on failure.
 	 */
-	public function get_html( $url, $args = '' ) {
+	public function get_data( $url, $args = '' ) {
 		$args = wp_parse_args( $args );
 
 		/**
@@ -357,7 +356,36 @@ class WP_oEmbed {
 
 		$provider = $this->get_provider( $url, $args );
 
-		if ( ! $provider || false === $data = $this->fetch( $provider, $url, $args ) ) {
+		if ( ! $provider ) {
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		$data = $this->fetch( $provider, $url, $args );
+
+		if ( false === $data ) {
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		return (array) $data;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * The do-it-all function that takes a URL and attempts to return the HTML.
+	 *
+	 * @see WP_oEmbed::fetch()
+	 * @see WP_oEmbed::data2html()
+	 *
+	 * @since 2.9.0
+	 * @access public
+	 *
+	 * @param string       $url  The URL to the content that should be attempted to be embedded.
+	 * @param array|string $args Optional. Arguments, usually passed from a shortcode. Default empty.
+	 * @return false|string False on failure, otherwise the UNSANITIZED (and potentially unsafe) HTML that should be used to embed.
+	 */
+	public function get_html( $url, $args = '' ) {
+		$data = $this->get_data( $url, $args );
+
+		if ( false === $data ) {
 			return false;
 		}
 
diff --git src/wp-includes/class-wp-oembed-controller.php src/wp-includes/class-wp-oembed-controller.php
index 13fed836e6..be0dee3aae 100644
--- src/wp-includes/class-wp-oembed-controller.php
+++ src/wp-includes/class-wp-oembed-controller.php
@@ -52,10 +52,35 @@ final class WP_oEmbed_Controller {
 				),
 			),
 		) );
+
+		register_rest_route( 'oembed/1.0', '/proxy', array(
+			array(
+				'methods'  => WP_REST_Server::READABLE,
+				'callback' => array( $this, 'get_proxy_item' ),
+				'permission_callback' => array( $this, 'get_proxy_item_permissions_check' ),
+				'args'     => array(
+					'url'      => array(
+						'required'          => true,
+						'sanitize_callback' => 'esc_url_raw',
+					),
+					'format'   => array(
+						'default'           => 'json',
+						'sanitize_callback' => 'wp_oembed_ensure_format',
+					),
+					'maxwidth' => array(
+						'default'           => $maxwidth,
+						'sanitize_callback' => 'absint',
+					),
+					'maxheight' => array(
+						'sanitize_callback' => 'absint',
+					),
+				),
+			),
+		) );
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Callback for the API endpoint.
+	 * Callback for the embed API endpoint.
 	 *
 	 * Returns the JSON object for the post.
 	 *
@@ -86,4 +111,46 @@ final class WP_oEmbed_Controller {
 
 		return $data;
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Checks if current user can make a proxy oEmbed request.
+	 *
+	 * @since 4.8.0
+	 * @access public
+	 *
+	 * @return true|WP_Error True if the request has read access, WP_Error object otherwise.
+	 */
+	function get_proxy_item_permissions_check() {
+
+		if ( ! current_user_can( 'edit_posts' ) ) {
+			return new WP_Error( 'rest_forbidden_context', __( 'Sorry, you are not allowed to make proxied oEmbed requests.' ), array( 'status' => rest_authorization_required_code() ) );
+		}
+		return true;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Callback for the proxy API endpoint.
+	 *
+	 * Returns the JSON object for the proxied item.
+	 *
+	 * @since 4.8.0
+	 * @access public
+	 *
+	 * @see WP_oEmbed::get_html()
+	 * @param WP_REST_Request $request Full data about the request.
+	 * @return WP_Error|array oEmbed response data or WP_Error on failure.
+	 */
+	public function get_proxy_item( $request ) {
+		$url = $request['url'];
+		$args = $request->get_params();
+		unset( $args['url'] );
+
+		$data = _wp_oembed_get_object()->get_data( $url, $args );
+
+		if ( false === $data ) {
+			return new WP_Error( 'oembed_invalid_url', get_status_header_desc( 404 ), array( 'status' => 404 ) );
+		}
+
+		return $data;
+	}
 }