'I've only benefitted from it': Idina Menzel dazzles on the cover of Billboard magazine as she reveals she and John Travolta are now 'buddies' following THAT Oscars flub

By Juliet Paylor

While no-one wants to have their name mispronounced at the Academy Awards of all prestigious ceremonies, Idina Menzel has been able to see the funny side.

The singer - who was introduced by John Travolta as something along the lines of 'Adele Dazeem'
as she took to the stage for a performance of Let It Go from Disney's Frozen during the Oscars on March 2 - became a household name following the incident and readily admits she 'only benefitted' from the error.

'That threw me for a minute, but then I just got back on track and reminded myself of where I was
and what a beautiful moment it was,' she tells the latest issue of Billboard magazine as she graces the cover.

'He was really gracious and sent this gorgeous email': Idina Menzel has opened up to the latest issue of Billboard magazine about THAT embarrassing Oscars gaffe in which John Travolta mispronounced her name at the March 2 ceremony

'He was really gracious and sent this gorgeous email': Idina Menzel has opened up to the latest issue of Billboard magazine about THAT embarrassing Oscars gaffe in which John Travolta mispronounced her name at the March 2 ceremony

The 42-year-old has well and truly forgiven the actor for the mistake, revealing that she now considers him to be a good friend.

'He was really gracious and sent this gorgeous email, and we're buddies and it's all cool,' she insists, adding: 'Please. I mean, I've only benefitted from it.'

Indeed, the 60-year-old felt so terrible about the slip-of-the-tongue he sent the slighted star a huge bouquet of flowers to her dressing room in a bid to make amends.

Classy broad: The singer didn't let the mispronunciation affect her performance as she took to the stage for a stirring rendition of Let It Go from Disney's Frozen

Classy broad: The singer didn't let the mispronunciation affect her performance as she took to the stage for a stirring rendition of Let It Go from Disney's Frozen

'We're buddies and it's all cool': John Travolta sent a huge floral arrangement and note to Idina's dressing room in a bid to make amends for the embarrassing error, with the gracious star quick to accept his apology and even forging a friendship with the actor

'We're buddies and it's all cool': John Travolta sent a huge floral arrangement and note to Idina's dressing room in a bid to make amends for the embarrassing error, with the gracious star quick to accept his apology and even forging a friendship with the actor

Twitter was abuzz after he made the embarrassing gaffe while introducing Idina's performance of the Best Original Song nominee - which was the eventual winner of the category.

In a statement released at the time, the Pulp Fiction actor 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!"

'Idina is incredibly talented and I am so happy Frozen took home two Oscars Sunday night!'

'That threw me for a minute, but then I just got back on track and reminded myself where I was': The 42-year-old admits she 'only benefitted' from the gaffe, which very quickly went viral

'That threw me for a minute, but then I just got back on track and reminded myself where I was': The 42-year-old admits she 'only benefitted' from the gaffe, which very quickly went viral


A source told E! that Travolta was quick to send a 'big, gorgeous bouquet of flowers' on the night, adding: 'It was HUGE. It was his apology to her.

'It was clear he felt very bad about it,' the insider continued. 'And by the size of the arrangement it was an obvious "forgive me please" gesture.'

While Idina herself laughed off the incident at the time, another star who thought it was amusing was David Letterman, who read out a top 10 list of ways to mispronounce her name during a segment on CBS's The Late Show - which included offerings such as Idrizzle Menzezzle and Liza Menzelli.

Social media went into overdrive, with one Twitter user joking: 'I wanna put my name through the John Travolta name generator.'

Her time to shine: Idina changed from the stunning strapless green dress she wore on the red carpet into a floaty pale dress for her performance of the Oscar-nominated song, which took home the award for Best Original Song

Her time to shine: Idina changed from the stunning strapless green dress she wore on the red carpet into a floaty pale dress for her performance of the Oscar-nominated song, which took home the award for Best Original Song

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

She was great in Rent, amazing in Wicked. We got to see both in NY. We got tickets three months ago to her new play If/Then in NY four days after the Oscars. At the stage door ( which is directly across the street from the NY Church of Scientology) was a MOB ........ She became a huge star "overnight" at something she's been doing 18 years. Police for crowd control, car w driver four ft. from door. The actor who plays Josh in the production crossed the straight and was standing by us. He told us " Last week when we were in previews we'd walk out, go down the block to Starbucks then each grab a cab and go home....then Sunday night happened and ....this" He looked liked he missed her.

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About time she got some recognition.

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She reminds me of Rachel from Glee!!!

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I like how she's able to take that flub with humor.

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Phew, she really struggled through her performance but it wasn't her fault. The orchestra are supposed to follow the singer's lead, not the other way round. They were going to fast for her so she couldn't take her breaths properly. The song is very technical and tough enough to sing as it is without not having enough time to breathe properly, that's why her big note cracked. My heart went out to her, you could see she wasn't happy during and after her performance. She has an amazing voice but sadly didn't get to showcase it to its best ability here.

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Her performance at the Oscars was horrible. She was so out of tune in some parts of the song, I couldn't believe it. Go check it out on youtube who hasn't heard it. Surely, a professional singer should be able to do better than that....

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I missed this but the John Travolta name generator comment cracked me up! I was however unfortunate enough to see Frozen, Disney's poorest offering in years, if not ever.

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Woah, I had NO idea JT is 60?! He looks great!

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Idina Menzel + Alexia Khadime = Adele Dazeem

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She really doesn't look like 42.

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