Blame Goldie Hawn for John Travolta's Oscars Name Flub
The real reasons why Travolta mispronounced Idina Menzel's name.
-- John Travolta finally revealed the true reasons why he mispronounced Idina Menzel's name at last year's Oscars.
It was Goldie Hawn's fault, evidently.
Travolta, speaking on "Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Oscars," said he bumped into Hawn backstage at the 2014 Oscars.
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"Now, Goldie Hawn is sexy, charismatic, beautiful ... amazing, and I was star-struck," Travolta said. "I'm star-struck hugging and loving her up, forgetting that I have to go and do this bit. And they said, 'You're on.'"
Travolta said he wasn't expecting to be called on-stage so early -- and he found out later that his page was stuck in an elevator. Additionally, Travolta said, Menzel's name was spelled phonetically in the Teleprompter, leaving him tongue-tied.
"What is that name? I don't know that name," Travolta said. "It was the phonetic spelling, but I didn't rehearse it that way."
The confusion played out in his pronunciation -- when he introduced Menzel as "Adele Dazeem," triggering a pop culture firestorm.
Travolta and Menzel met again at this year's Oscars, presenting the award for Best Original Song. Menzel got her revenge Sunday, introducing her counterpart as "Glom Gazingo."
The pair shared a heartfelt moment and Travolta honored Menzel, holding her chin as he discussed her talent.
"Apparently, I played with her chin too much," Travolta told Kimmel later.
"You can never play with a woman's chin too much," Kimmel responded.