IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Grammy presenter on mispronouncing winner: ‘I totally had a Travolta/Adel Dazeem moment’

"I just started speaking in tongues," explained comedian Randy Rainbow.
/ Source: TODAY

Randy Rainbow is apologizing in the most hilarious way for mangling a nominee's name and the title of her musical work at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.

The comedian, who is best known for his phony celebrity interviews and musical parodies, presented the inaugural award for best score soundtrack for video games and other interactive media during the Grammy pre-show ceremony on Feb. 5.

The award went to Stephanie Economou, the composer for the game "Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok." Unfortunately, all of that information came out of Rainbow's mouth in a way that was uniquely his own. (The moment comes around 22:40 into the video below.)

“And the Grammy goes to ... 'Assassin’s … Creed Valaha,'" said Rainbow, quickly adding a mispronunciation of Economou's name.

Rainbow, who co-hosted the pre-broadcast ceremony and was nominated himself in the best comedy album category, tweeted an apology the following day, comparing his mispronunciations to John Travolta's botching Idina Menzel's name at the 2014 Academy Awards.

"With sincerest apologies to Assassin’s Creed VALHALLA…" Rainbow wrote above a mea culpa he shared on Twitter.

"Yes, I totally had a Travolta/Adel Dazeem moment at the Grammys. It was the second category of the show, I was still finding my footing and don’t know video games. And of the many phonetic spellings I had to contend with as host, that one wasn’t included so I just started speaking in tongues," wrote the comedian.

"If it’s any consolation," he jokingly added, “when my nominated category was called, they accidentally pronounced my name 'Dave Chappelle.'"

Though the moment — which went viral immediately — was an embarrassing one, Economou the composer made no mention of it in her acceptance speech or on social media.

As for Rainbow's fans, they consoled him by assuring him the flub was comedy gold.

"This is so dang cute. Love you!!! And I’m happy the internet got to share this silly moment!!" wrote one.

"Honestly just makes me love you more. And now you need to parody yourself,” wrote someone else.

Another fan reminded Rainbow of something Menzel said she remembered after Travolta butchered her name at the Oscars — and that’s the old Hollywood adage, “Any publicity is good publicity."

Years after Travolta's flub, the "Wicked" star told Sunday TODAY's Willie Geist she was initially upset about the mispronunciation, which happened as she was about to walk onstage to sing "Let It Go."

But later Menzel realized she'd just become known to millions more people because of Travolta's mistake.

“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?’” Menzel said.

The awkward moment has also connected Menzel with the "Grease" star forever, something Menzel doesn't take for granted, Menzel revealed during a 2021 "Carpool Karaoke" segment.

“It was the greatest thing that ever happened to me,” Menzel said, adding that Travolta has more than atoned for his mistake. “He’s written so many nice, apologetic emails. He’s sent flowers. He’s so kind," she said. "To make up for it, he would, like, fly wherever at this point. He’s so sweet."

Related: