2014 Oscar Fails: John Travolta, Cate Blanchett, Charlize Theron & Kim Novak

by UInterviewMarch 4, 2014, 12:00 amNews >

On Oscar night, it’s a celebration of the film industry and an awards ceremony – billed as the most elegant and culturally important of them all. Unfortunately, multiple times at the 86th annual Academy Awards, the stars who turned out for the event didn’t always put their most graceful foot forward.

2014 Oscar Fails

John Travolta’s butchering of Broadway star Idina Menzel's name was perhaps the most viral Oscar flub from Sunday night. The Grease actor was up on stage to introduce Menzel, who was singing “Let It Go” from Frozen – the song that ultimately won for Best Original Song. “Please welcome the ‘Wicked’-ly talented,” began Travolta, making a reference to Menzel’s best-known part of playing Elphaba on Broadway’s Wicked. “One and only, Adele Dazim.”

In the aftermath of Travolta’s gaffe, Twitter parodies emerged for names sounding like Adele Dazim. There’s also an Internet app on Slate.com that allows users to get their names “Travoltafied.”

Cate Blanchett made a word choice blunder when accepting her Best Actress award from Daniel Day-Lewis. Not knowing that "exacerbates" has a negative connotation, she said, “Thank you, Mr. Day-Lewis, from you it exacerbates this honor and blows it right out of the ballpark.” In a similar error, Zac Efron used “aspiration” when he clearly meant to say “inspiration.”

When Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth were presenting for Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound editing, neither Snow White and The Huntsman star seemed to know who was supposed to speak when.

Kim Novak, who shocked viewers with her inability to move her face, also had some trouble getting words out while presenting an award with Matthew McConaughey.

Jennifer Lawrence, always a reliable source of flubs on awards nights, had a pair of incidents on the red carpet. At one point, the American Hustle actress tripped over a cone. Then, when speaking to a reporter, she awkwardly hiked up her strapless dress, to the surprise of the interviewer.