Robin Parrish, Tech Times

No one at the 2015 Academy Awards had a more interesting night than John Travolta.

Everyone's favorite singing, dancing, cross-dressing, villain-playing Scientologist turned the Oscars into a happy kiddie playground where he played stalker.

There was inappropriateness galore, as every time he appeared in front of a camera, he was doing something that made the whole world cringe in unison. Stuff like this moment with Scarlett Johansson, which kicked off his rounds.

Twitter, hysterical knee-jerk circus that it is, reacted in an entirely appropriate manner.

Obviously, not getting off to a good start. Plus, he was wearing a really unfortunate accessory.

But Mr. Saturday Night Fever was just getting warmed up. When next he was spotted, the Oscars were well underway and he was in his seat, right behind Benedict Cumberbatch. When the camera lingered momentarily on Cumberbatch, sharp-eyed viewers caught a glimpse of Travolta eying him from behind with a rather sinister expression.


Travolta's biggest can't-stop-looking-but-make-it-stop moment was yet to come. As the Oscar telecast was entering what had to be its fourteenth hour or so, "Adele Dazeem" herself, Idini Menzel, took the stage as a presenter. Her first order of business was to introduce her "dear friend" John Travolta, who was set to join her for a pre-planned bit that was meant to poke fun at Travolta's gaffe from last year. Clearly relishing the moment, Menzel introduced Travolta as "Glom Gazingo."

He strutted up to the podium, smiling. He gave Menzel a sweet hug and replied with a self-effacing "I deserved that." And that's where he should have left it. He effectively disarmed all those Adele Dazeem memes he caused last year, while proving he had a great sense of humor about the whole thing. It was a golden opportunity.

And he royally blew it with what happened next. Dude had one job: pronounce Idina Menzel's name correctly, proving that he could in fact say it. He succeeded at that — but only after he grabbed her by the chin, pulled her in way too close, and held her captive there in front of millions of people for the ten most excruciating seconds of the entire show.

Even when Menzel turned to the audience to gather applause for his pronunciation skills, still he wouldn't let go of her face.

If he was trying to redeem himself for last year, he crashed and burned. If his intention was to top "Adele Dazeem," he totally nailed it. Maybe he was trying to project himself as a super-cool stud, but the 61-year-old instead came across as that creepy uncle you avoid making eye contact with at family reunions. Yikes.

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Tags: John Travolta Idina Menzel Oscars Academy Awards Viral Photos Viral Videos Scarlett Johansson Benedict Cumberbatch
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