Real reason everyone keeps calling Idina Menzel ‘Adele Dazeem’ is callback to 2014 moment

If you’ve seen people refer to legendary musical theatre actress Idina Menzel as Adele Dazeem, don’t worry, it’s a nod to a viral moment from 2014 involving John Travolta, The Oscars, and one hell of a blunder.

Idina Menzel has featured heavily in stories about Wicked as the very first actress to play Cynthia Erivo’s character Elphaba back when the show was created in 2003. She even got a cheeky cameo alongside original Glinda actress Kristin Chenoweth.

If you search for content on her you’ll quickly be confronted by thousands of people calling her Adele Dazeem, a name she just can’t get away from. Here’s why.

In a moment she had been waiting for her entire life, Idina Menzel was invited to The Oscars in 2014 to perform Frozen’s Let It Go, a song she angelically sings as the film’s leading character Elsa. Unfortunately, the moment was somewhat ruined when John Travolta introduced her to the stage.

“Please welcome the wickedly talented, one and only, Adele Dazeem,” he said, referencing her role in Wicked but also messing up her name.

Adele Dazeem and various other spellings quickly trended on Twitter, with a John Travolta name generator even popping up to mess up names you suggest.

Speaking to E! News after the viral blunder, John confessed to beating himself up about making a fool of himself on one of the biggest stages in the world.

“I’ve been beating myself up all day,” he joked. “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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Funnily enough, he reportedly had no issues getting her name right during the show’s many rehearsals in the day, which makes the mistake all that more satisfying. In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel the following year, John Travolta blamed the moment on the show’s teleprompters, a tale as old as time.

“I didn’t rehearse it that way,” he said.

Idina Menzel took the misname like a champ

Over the years, Idina Menzel has made it clear that she holds no ill thoughts towards John Travolta for messing up her name, in fact, she somewhat thanks him for it. Though she initially thought “I’m finally here and this guy screwed up my name”, she soon realised that it could benefit her in the long run.

“It ended up being one of the best things that happened for my career because all the people that had no idea who I was were like … ‘Who is this girl?’” she told TODAY in 2021.

Idina has referenced the moment a few times since 2014, with the first coming a year later in 2015 as she got her own back by introducing John Travolta as “Glom Gazingo”, something he too took in his stride. Back in March of this year, she also poked fun at herself on TikTok as she wished herself, specifically Adele Dazeem, a happy birthday.

“I just wanted to say happy birthday. I’m sending you so much love and positive energy,” she said. “I hope you have the best, best day.”

Featured Image credit: Instagram/Idina Menzel & Shutterstock Rob Latour/Shutterstock