John Travolta on Menzel Mispronunciation: ‘Let It Go!’
John Travolta goofed. Plain and simple. The moniker mangling heard around the world — when the actor introduced Idina Menzel as something approximating "Adela Dazeem" before her rendition of the "Frozen" hit song "Let It Go" — spawned a late-night jokefest, countless memes, a fake Twitter account, and name generator instantly embraced by fellow celebrities.
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Travolta finally addressed the gaffe on Tuesday, playfully acknowledging his blunder heard by an audience of more than 40 million people in the U.S. alone.
"I've been beating myself up all day," he said in a good-natured statement. "Then I thought... what would Idina Menzel say, 'She'd say, Let it go, let it go!' Idina is incredibly talented and I am so happy 'Frozen' took home two Oscars Sunday night!"
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Now that Travolta is letting it go, should everyone else?
Sure seems that way. While the name generator is already wearing out its welcome on Facebook feeds around the world, Menzel herself isn't holding any grudges.
"She laughed it off," E! Online reports. "She thought it was so funny. She was like, 'What are you going to do?'" Menzel was even seen giving Travolta a hug backstage after her number.
"The Oscars were a dream come true for Idina," the source told E! "She wasn't going to let anything get in the way of that. Menzel reflected that sentiment in a tweet of her own.
Still pinching myself over my entire #Oscars experience. Dream come true. pic.twitter.com/xtS5i0bc6U
— Idina Menzel (@idinamenzel) March 4, 2014