Adele Dazeem keeps Idina Menzel awake at night

If you’ve ever seen people refer to legendary musical actress Idina Menzel as Adele Dazeem, don’t worry, that’s a reference to a viral moment from 2014 involving John Travolta, the Oscars, and one hell of a mistake.

Idina Menzel has played an important role in stories about Wicked, as she was the very first actress to play Cynthia Erivo’s character Elphaba when the series launched in 2003. She even got a cheeky cameo alongside original Glinda actress Kristin Chenoweth.

If you search for content about her, you’ll quickly be confronted with thousands of people calling her Adele Dazeem, a name she just can’t escape. Here’s why.

In a moment she’d been waiting for her entire life, Idina Menzel was invited to the 2014 Oscars to perform “Frozen”‘s “Let It Go,” a song she sings angelically as the film’s main character, Elsa. Unfortunately, the moment was somewhat ruined when John Travolta brought them on stage.

“Please welcome the incredibly talented, one-of-a-kind Adele Dazeem,” he said, referring to her role in “Wicked” but also messing up her name.

Adele Dazeem and various other spellings quickly trended on Twitter, and even a name generator for John Travolta popped up to mix up names you suggested.

Speaking to E! News After the viral blunder, John confessed that he made a fool of himself on one of the biggest stages in the world.

“I’ve been getting ready all day,” he joked. “Then I thought… What would Idina Menzel say? She would say, ‘Let it go, let it go!’ Idina is incredibly talented and I’m so happy that Frozen took home two Oscars on Sunday night!”

Funnily enough, he reportedly had no trouble getting her name right during the show’s many rehearsals that day, which makes the mistake all the more satisfying. In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel the following year, John Travolta blamed that moment on the show’s teleprompters – a story as old as time.

“That’s not how I rehearsed it,” he said.

Idina Menzel took on the fake name like a champ

Over the years, Idina Menzel has made it clear that she doesn’t hold anything against John Travolta for messing up her name, in fact, in a way, she thanks him for it. Although she initially thought, “I’m finally here and this guy messed up my name,” she soon realized it could benefit her in the long run.

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

Idina has mentioned this moment several times since 2014, the first coming a year later in 2015 when she introduced John Travolta as “Glom Gazingo,” which he also took in stride. In March this year, she also made fun of herself on TikTok by wishing herself, specifically Adele Dazeem, a happy birthday.

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

Photo credit: Instagram/Idina Menzel & Shutterstock Rob Latour/Shutterstock