John Travolta calling out Adele Dazeem saw Idina Menzel get 'revenge' a year later
While presenting at the Oscars in 2014, John Travolta infamously mispronounced Idina Menzel’s name as “Adele Dazeem,” but she later got her revenge … and the pair are now thankfully on good terms.
Idina was appearing on the award show to sing the hit song Let It Go from Disney’s Frozen and John was supposed to be introducing her. However, it didn’t go so well as he completely butchered her name and looked very uncertain as he did so. During the ceremony a year later, the Elsa actress got her revenge and thankfully, they both took it all in good humor and are on good terms with one another. He later explained his slip up and we kind of understand why he did such a bad job – but really, is her name that hard to pronounce?
John Travolta mispronouncing Idina Menzel’a name went down in Oscars history
While introducing the movie star before her performance at the esteemed ceremony in 2014, the 69-year-old completely messed up her name.
Instead of Idina Menzel, John Travolta called her “Adele Dazeem” while looking very uncertain and a bit embarrassed.
Referencing her days on stage in which she originated the role of Elphaba both on Broadway and in the West End in Wicked the Musical, he said: “Please welcome the wickedly talented, one and only, Adele Dazeem.”
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However, the two later reunited so not only could Idina pay him back, but the Hollywood star revealed he could actually say her name correctly!
Idina gets her own back
In 2015, the two appeared together on stage and Idina Menzel gave John Travolta his own nickname, getting him back for calling her Adele Dazeem. Thankfully, it was all in good fun.
Standing alone behind a mic during the 2015 Oscars, 52-year-old Idina said: “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage my very dear friend Glom Gazingo.”
The quip caused the crowd to erupt into laughter while John made his way to the stage. When he approached her, they gave each other big smiles and a hug.
“I deserve that,” said, John. “I deserve that, but you? You my darling, my beautiful, my wickedly talented Idina Menzel,” he said while touching her face and she laughed.
“You got it! Yay!” Idina told him as the crowd cheered.
John looked at the audience and asked: “Is that right?” Idina then joked: “You did it! That was so good! It’s not like it’s gonna follow me around for the rest of my life or anything …”
John was quick to respond: “Yeah, tell me about it.”
John had a lot of bad luck that night
Whilst appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live, John Travolta told the TV host exactly what went down to cause him to pronounce Idina Menzel as Adele Dazeem. He explained he hadn’t been given much time to prepare. All thanks to an elevator breakdown and a changed in spelling.
He said: “Okay, the truth. The truth is I was expected backstage and it was getting very close to the time I was supposed to go on, and suddenly, a page – an assistant to you – grabbed me out of the seat and said, ‘You’re on in a minute.’ I said, ‘Really? What happened to 15 minutes?’ They didn’t explain.”
The celebrity continued by saying his actual assistant “got stuck in an elevator” so it was all a “rush.” He then got “starstruck” and a tiny bit distracted by actress Goldie Hawn. He said he was eventually pulled away and told he was “on.”
“They said, ‘Oh, by the way, we’ve changed Idina’s name to a phonetic spelling. I went, ‘What do you mean?’ So I go out there, and I get to her thing, and I thought, ‘Hm?’ In my mind, I’m going, ‘What? What is that name/'” he said, laughing. “I don’t know that name.”
A phonetic spelling is when a word – or in this case, a name – is spelled how it sounds rather than how it’s actually written.
“But the beautiful news is, and Idina actually agrees, is that she’s had one of the best years of her life and career, and she gives me credit.”
He sent Frozen star flowers to apologize
In a clip from a recent interview with Elvis Duran Show, Idina looked like the moment still made her cringe though she still has good humor about the incident. She explained: “John Travolta was super nice to me, just couldn’t remember who I was,” she laughed. “He sent me flowers that had these pussy willows in them.
After one of the hosts said it was a “hot name” Idina agreed but said: “But I think there’s a very famous Adele now, and I don’t know where I come from in the world with a name like Dazeem. “
“He was super sweet to me,” she continued. She said “since he owes me one” she wants him to do a TikTok with her dancing to one of her disco music “because that is his strength.”
We think that sounds like a fair deal!
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