Since she’s no stranger to people mispronouncing her name, Idina Menzel has taken to social media to set the record straight once and for all about the proper pronunciation of Kamala Harris’ name.
In a recent video posted on Instagram, the Frozen and Enchanted star said all the mispronunciations of the Democratic presidential nominee’s name are “getting really exhausting,” adding that she is “an expert” on pronunciation because her name “is always being messed up.”
For those not clued in, Menzel is referencing the now-iconic moment from the 2014 Academy Awards, when John Travolta bizarrely introduced her as “Adele Dazeem.” Unsurprisingly, that moment has lived on in pop culture canon, not least because Travolta’s version of Menzel’s name somehow managed to include a whole bunch of needless letters.
Using that experience as a reference, Menzel confirmed that Harris’ first name is pronounced like “comma-la”, delivering a pronunciation lesson in the same way Harris’ grandnieces, Amara and Leela, did during the Democratic National Convention in August (but theirs was much cuter). That lesson also tapped actress Kerry Washington, and saw the whole crowd chanting Harris’ name correctly and in perfect unison.
“Nobody ever gets my name right,” Menzel said in the video after listing off a bunch of mispronunciations like the infamous Adele Dazeem. “But I think the vice president and soon-to-be president should have her name pronounced correctly.” For extra measure, Menzel even spelled it out more explicitly in the caption, writing “it’s COMMA-lah. Like a comma.”
In the comments, one fan said that if that pronunciation is still “too hard”, we can just call Harris “Madame President”, which is still probably too many syllables for her opponent, Donald Trump.
Menzel — who joins the likes of Brian Cranston, Olivia Rodgrio, Mark Ruffalo and Mark Hamill as one of multiple celebrities endorsing the Harris campaign — provided clarity about her candidate’s name following months of Trump’s mispronunciation. The Republican candidate has either intentionally or unknowingly (though it’s probably the former) mispronounced Harris’ name ever since she became the nominee, and at one point even misspelt her name as “Kamabla.”
In July, The Washington Post reported that Trump botched the pronunciation of Harris’ name seven times during a rally, while CNN later published claims that Trump had said he “couldn’t care less” if he pronounced Harris’ name incorrectly. Given his history of skewering the names of his opponents (Tampon Tim, Crooked Hilary, Sleepy Joe, to name a few), perhaps we shouldn’t place too much importance on how Trump pronounces names, but Menzel rallying behind Harris feels like a true moment of sisterhood.
Menzel’s Harris pronunciation PSA was part of her broader campaign efforts with Broadway for Harris, one of multiple movements in support of the Democratic candidate that featured the likes of Anne Hathaway, Billy Porter, and Whoopi Goldberg.
Coincidentally, 2024 marks the 10th anniversary of Travolta’s head-scratching name blunder at the Oscars, and Menzel said in March that despite the fanfare, it was “one of the best things that’s happened in my career.” I guess in Hollywood, name recognition is always a good thing, even if that name actually isn’t even yours.
Published: Oct 15, 2024 05:36 am