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Why Idina Menzel Calls John Travolta's Flub 'The Best Mistake That's Ever Happened to Me'

Idina Menzel performs during the CMA 2014 Country Christmas on Nov. 7, 2014 in Nashville, Tenn.
Rick Diamond/Getty Images
ByLESLEY MESSER
November 13, 2014, 6:30 PM

— -- At the Oscars this past March, John Travolta famously flubbed Idina Menzel's name.

However, Menzel -- or, as Travolta called her, "Adele Dazeem" -- has a great attitude about it.

"It’s the best mistake that’s ever happened to me," she told Redbook magazine. "Just having the kind of success where people might know my name — my real name! It took me a long time to stop chasing it and just embrace it."

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These days, Menzel's name is bound to be heard more and more as the "Frozen" star, 43, is promoting her new holiday album, starring in her Broadway show, "If/Then," and of course, being a mother to her son with her ex-husband, Taye Diggs. Balancing work with motherhood can be tough.

"The guilt is the thing that we as women all feel, whether we stay at home or we work. There are a lot of double standards with the way the men in our lives see how we make those choices," she said. "I think there’s an accounting for how much time I spend with my son, and men don’t have to account for how much time they spend with their child. It hurts to feel that’s a judgment being made. Because we’re already judging ourselves."

Fitting in a dating life, then, has been nearly impossible.

"I’m open to it. I just don’t have a lot of time," she said. "They’d have to meet me at, like, midnight after the show, and that’s kind of slutty, isn’t it?"

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