Though he starred in three massive music movies (Saturday Night Fever, Grease and Hairspray), John Travolta misspoke when presenting the singer from the year's biggest music movie, Frozen, introducing Idina Menzel as "Adele Nazeem." Unfortunately, Degeneres only did a little bit better, calling her "Eye-dee-nuh" instead.
STORY: Oscars: John Travolta Breaks Silence Over Idina Menzel Name Flub
Though Idina Menzel was the Frozen actress who performed the Oscar-winning original song “Let It Go” on Sunday night, it was presenter John Travolta who was left in the cold when he mispronounced her name.
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The three-time music-movie actor (Saturday Night Fever, Grease and Hairspray) introduced the Broadway boldface as “the wickedly talented, one and only Adele Nazeem,” just before Menzel belted out the anthem amid glistening floor-to-ceiling jewels. The name flub immediately triggered a social media outburst, with viewers and celebrities alike wondering what went wrong.
Amid speculations about the Oscar teleprompter and even rumors of dyslexia, Travolta issued a statement through his publicist on Tuesday, according to Today.com:
“I’ve been beating myself up all day. Then I thought … what would Idina Menzel say? She’d say, ‘Let it go, let it go!’ Idina is incredibly talented and I am so happy Frozen took home two Oscars Sunday night!”
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Menzel, noted for her stage roles in Rent and Wicked (as well as Enchanted and Glee in Tinseltown), doesn’t seem bothered by it anyway, as she has yet to make a comment on the name flub.
Meanwhile, Menzel is currently working on Broadway production If/Then. Netflix capitalized on Travolta’s name flub with lighthearted promotional tweets.
Email: Ashley.Lee@THR.com
Twitter: @cashleelee
