Idina Menzel has no arduous emotions for John Travolta after the “Grease” star famously botched her identify on the 2014 Academy Awards ceremony. In truth, she’s glad it occurred.
In a now-infamous Oscars second, Menzel was about to take the stage to sing “Let It Go,” her signature tune from the Oscar-winning movie “Frozen.” All Travolta, one of many evening’s presenters, needed to do was introduce her. However the veteran actor someway mispronounced her first and final names. (Adele Dazeem?)
In a Sunday Sitdown interview with Willie Geist, Menzel mirrored on the incident. She remembers initially pondering, “I’m lastly right here and this man screwed up my identify.”
However then she rapidly advised herself, “Cease feeling sorry for your self. Get your s— collectively, you already know? You gotta get able to sing this word.”
Menzel added, “It ended up being among the best issues that occurred for my profession as a result of all of the folks that had no concept who I used to be have been like … ‘Who is that this woman?'”
Throughout a 2021 look on “The Late Late Present’s” enjoyable “Carpool Karaoke” phase alongside her “Cinderella” co-stars Camila Cabello and Billy Porter, Menzel shared an analogous sentiment.
“I had eight seconds to say to myself, at first I felt actually sorry for myself, like, ‘Meryl Streep’s on the market. That is my huge break and he simply f— up my identify,'” Menzel stated, laughing. “After which eight seconds, the band begins, I’m like, ‘Get your s— collectively. C’mon, that is your second. Cease worrying about that he tousled your identify. Sing, b—!'”
Porter then interjected, “Sing! And you probably did! I used to be watching.”
Menzel continued, explaining that she had supposed to sing to her son, Walker Diggs, whom she shares together with her ex Taye Diggs.
“I used to be so nervous. I had meditated on this second. I used to be going to sing to my son to essentially put perspective into every little thing after which that occurred,” she stated, now cracking up.
Trying again, the Broadway star stated Travolta’s flub proved to be fortuitous. In spite of everything, his mangled pronunciation of her identify bought everyone speaking about her. It additionally ended up connecting her with Travolta eternally.
“It was the best factor that ever occurred to me,” gushed Menzel, who added of Travolta, “He’s written so many good, apologetic emails. He is despatched flowers. He’s so variety. To make up for it, he would, like, fly wherever at this level, he’s so candy.
“I simply at all times say, ‘No worries as a result of it was the very best factor that ever occurred,'” she added.
For his half, Travolta apologized for the mispronunciation in a public assertion days after the ceremony.
“I have been beating myself up all day. Then I assumed … what would Idina Menzel say, She’d say, Let it go, let it go!” he joked. “Idina is extremely gifted and I’m so joyful Frozen took dwelling two Oscars Sunday evening!”
Menzel and Travolta ended up presenting collectively on the Academy Awards the next 12 months. Instantly after the ceremony, Travolta appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Reside!”
In the course of the pair’s chat, Travolta opened up about his 2014 introduction fake pas, explaining that there was a lot confusion backstage. Travolta recalled a crew member telling him he was due onstage at the very least quarter-hour ahead of he anticipated.
Moments later, the previous “Welcome Again, Kotter” star bumped into Hollywood legend Goldie Hawn and have become “starstruck.”
Earlier than the frazzled actor knew it, he was tapped to go on. As he made his method to the stage, he was advised that his cue playing cards would now function a phonetic spelling of Menzel’s identify.
“So I’m going on the market and I get to her factor and I assumed, ‘Hmm,'” Travolta stated with a confused look on his face.
The brand new phonetic spelling of Menzel’s identify seemed weird on the playing cards, stated Travolta, who recalled pondering, “I do not know that identify.”
“It was only a phonetic spelling, however I did not rehearse it that means,” he stated.
After laughing over the matter with Kimmel, Travolta added that he was joyful that Menzel had loved “among the best years” of her profession since his blundered introduction. “And he or she provides me credit score,” he stated, beaming.
5 years later, Menzel made it clear once more that she seems to be again fondly on Travolta’s introduction. Simply weeks earlier than she carried out “Into the Unknown” from “Frozen II” on the 2020 Academy Awards ceremony, Menzel referred to the particular second in a tweet.
“Once I was slightly woman I dreamed of moments like these,” she wrote, including, “Who’s courageous sufficient to introduce me?”
This text was initially revealed on TODAY.com
