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John Travolta once again made headlines for an awkward moment as a presenter at an awards show when he appeared to mistake Taylor Swift for drag queen Jade Jolie at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards.
The actor, who previously introduced Idina Menzel as “Adele Dazeem” during the 2014 Academy Awards, presented the video of the year award to Swift and the cast of her “You Need to Calm Down” music video. While the castmembers made their way up to the stage, Travolta appeared to try to hand the trophy to Jolie, who plays Swift in the music video. A video of the interaction went viral, with many accusing Travolta of not knowing who Swift is.
John Travolta mistook Jade Jolie for Taylor Swift when handing over the award for ‘Video of the Year.’ pic.twitter.com/z8MsJtcp1V
— Pop Crave (@PopCraveMusic) August 27, 2019
“There’s so many people that were bombarding the stage that I was looking for her,” the actor told Dallas Fort Worth’s Hot 93.3 radio station. “So the video has me trying to find her, but I thought it was so funny the way it was interpreted.”
Travolta added that he “didn’t care” that the moment went viral and admitted that he “kind of loved it.”
Jolie, who was wearing a blonde wig similar to Swift’s hairstyle at the VMAs, laughed as Travolta held out the award as he looked in her direction.
“I sometimes fantasize, what if I had given it to her … that would have been awesome,” he continued. “I should have just gone all the way with it. I have a sense of humor about all of that.”
And the actor made it clear he does know who Swift is.
“I’ve been friends with Taylor Swift, she’s been so good to my daughter and my wife during concerts; I’ve written her notes and she’s written me back,” he said.
In response to the headline-making interaction, Travolta added that most things he does are written about. “You know, if I wear a polka dot tie or I shave my head, there’s headlines,” he said.
Listen to the interview below.
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