Actress Idina Menzel and actor John Travolta speak onstage during the 87th Oscars. Photo / Getty Images
Actress Idina Menzel and actor John Travolta speak onstage during the 87th Oscars. Photo / Getty Images
John Travolta partially blames Goldie Hawn for him messing up Idina Menzel's name at the 2014 Oscars.
The Grease! actor infamously introduced the Let It Go hitmaker as "Adele Dazeem" during last year's Academy Awards and has finally revealed the series of events which left him flustered and unprepared beforehe stepped out on stage.
He explained: "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 and said you're on in a minute, I was like "What happened to 15 minutes?" and they didn't explain. Later I found out my actual page got stuck in an elevator and couldn't communicate to anybody so the back-up came to get me.
"As I get backstage I run into Goldie Hawn. She's sexy, charismatic, beautiful and I was starstruck, hugging and loving her up, forgetting I had to do this bit.
"Then they were like 'OK you're on' and then they said 'Oh by the way, we've changed Idina's name to a phonetic spelling and I was like 'Wait - what do you mean?' 'Go!'
"So I go out there and I get to her thing and I go 'Huh?' In my mind I'm going 'What? What is that name? I don't know that name'. And it was this phonetic spelling, and I didn't rehearse it that way."
Asked on Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Oscars if that meant it was "Goldie Hawn's fault", John laughed and replied: "Maybe."
Despite the gaffe, John insists the 43-year-old singer harbours no hard feelings and even credits him for her recent career success.
Image 1 of 48: Host Neil Patrick Harris speaks onstage during the 87th Annual Academy Awards. Photo / Getty Images
He added: "The beautiful news, and Idina actually agrees, is that she's had one of the best years of her life, and her career. And she gives me credit!"
And Idina was given her chance to get her revenge on John during this year's Oscars when she jokingly introduced him as "Glom Gazingo".
Speaking to the audience at Los Angeles' Dolby Theater, she said: "Please welcome to the stage my very dear friend Glom Gazingo."
The 61-year-old actor then walked on stage and hugged her before patting the Wicked star on the face and embracing the joke.
He said: "I deserve that, but you, my darling, my beautiful, my wickedly talented Idina Menzel."
