Happy 10th birthday to the “wickedly talented” Adele Dazeem. With love, your alter ego, Idina Menzel.
The Tony Award winner, whose name was infamously butchered by John Travolta during the 2014 Oscars telecast, is laughing about the infamous mistake a decade later.
“Hello, Adele Dazeem, I'm Idina Menzel. I just want to say happy birthday,” Menzel, 52, said in a greeting video posted Sunday on Instagram and TikTok. “Sending you lots of love and positive energy. I hope you have the best, best day.”
The “Frozen” franchise and the star of the stage musical “Wicked” sang “Happy Birthday” in their tongue-in-cheek post, which came exactly one week before the 2024 Oscars.
In fact, it's been 10 years since the “Pulp Fiction” and “Grease” superstar introduced Menzel as the “wickedly talented and unique Adele Dazeem” before taking the stage to perform the Oscar-winning “Let It Go” from “Frozen” during the television broadcast.
At the time, Menzel said it took him “eight heartbeats” to get over the initial mispronunciation while backstage. (Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres also made sure to pronounce the “Glee” star's real name correctly after that.)
“Then it happened. I heard that. I quickly said, 'Get out of your ego and do your thing,'” Menzel said on the “Today” show in 2014, adding that he didn't want publicity from the gaffe to detract from his projects.
He also didn't want to “keep saying it” because he didn't want Travolta to feel worse “because he sent a lot of apologies and everything was very nice.”
Travolta, 70, publicly apologized to Menzel beyond his initial statement, insisting that he had “been beating himself up” for the mistake, which took on a life of its own on the Internet almost as soon as he uttered the malapropism. In a later appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Travolta said the mistake was because she got nervous backstage after meeting Goldie Hawn. That was compounded by a last-minute change in her lines (a phonetic new spelling of Menzel's name) and him being fired from her because she “didn't rehearse it that way.”
The duo apparently hit it off and eventually reunited on the Oscars stage a year later, leading to another viral moment when they presented the Oscar for original song to “Glory” artists John Legend and Common.
Menzel introduced his co-host as his “very dear friend Glom Gazingo,” and Travolta joked that he “deserved it.” The reunion ended up going viral for a completely different reason after the “Saturday Night Fever” star fondled and cupped Menzel's face.
“But you, my dear, my beautiful and talented Idina Menzel,” he continued, patting her cheeks. The embarrassing exchange was actually a bit rehearsed, leading that year's Oscars host Neil Patrick Harris to predict that Travolta would return the following year “to apologize to Idina for all the facial touching.”
In an appearance on “The Elvis Duran Show” last year, Menzel said the “super sweet” Travolta owed him one.
“In fact, I'm thinking… since he does owe me, asking him to make a TikTok where he's dancing to my disco music. [‘Drama Queen’] since that is its strength. Yes, I think she would,” she added.
As for Adele Dazeem, she lives rent-free in the heads of many Menzel fans.
“I think about Adele Dazeem at least once a day,” one TikTok user commented on Menzel's birthday greeting.
“10 years already? Adele Dazeem is growing very fast! 😭,” wrote another.
“Funny! 😂 Adele Dazeem still makes me laugh 10 years later!! commented another user.
“She had the opportunity to do the funniest thing and my God, she took it. Icon,” wrote another.
