Presenter John Travolta speaks during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 2, 2014, in Los Angeles.John Shearer
According to John Travolta, nobody feels worse about mangling the pronunciation of Idina Menzel's name on last weekend's Oscars broadcast than John Travolta.
Travolta has issued a public apology to Menzel and has been "beating myself up" over the on-air gaffe.
To recap, on last Sunday night's Oscars show, Travolta took the stage to introduce the Tony-winning Menzel, who was booked to sing the song Let It Go from the animated movie Frozen.
But when it came to actually saying her name, Travolta, for reasons unknown, blurted out "Adela Dazeem," or something like it.
Menzel, in the best Broadway fashion, was unperturbed by the mistake and sang a rousing version of the song that earned her a standing ovation from the crowd at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
In the days to follow, Travolta was mocked mercilessly for his flub on social media and entertainment sites.
Associated Press notes that a Twitter account titled @adeladazeem quickly drew 20,000 followers. On Slate, a Travolta-fier Name Generator automatically transformed a name into an unintelligible version.
On Tuesday, Travolta released a statement that said, "I've been beating myself up all day. Then I thought … what would Idina Menzel say? She'd say, 'Let it go. Let it go!' "
The statement continues: "Idina is incredibly talented and I am so happy Frozen took home two Oscars Sunday night! [the movie won for best original song and best animated feature]."
And for the time being, all seems to be forgiven and all mistakes forgotten. But it might be some time before Travolta is asked to present at the Oscars again.