Wendi McLendon-Covey has given a surprisingly frank response after fans questioned why she was absent from the Bridesmaids reunion during Sunday night’s Academy Awards.
To mark the 15th anniversary of the 2011 romantic comedy, co-stars Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Ellie Kemper reunited onstage to present two awards for Best Original Score and Best Sound, with the trophies going to Sinners and F1, respectively.
But fans were quick to wonder why McLendon-Covey — who played the dissatisfied housewife Rita in the hit film — did not attend the ceremony and join her former co-stars onstage.
Hours later, the St. Dennis Medical actor cleared up any rumors with a candid admission that she was recovering from cosmetic neck surgery, sharing a selfie from her hospital bed with a large piece of gauze tied around her face.
“In response to some of the dms I'm getting: I had a neck lift last week because I'm tired of looking like a melting candle,” she captioned the post. “So I had to skip the Academy Awards. No drama. Everything is fine.”
The reunion saw the group of women perform a comedic bit where they were handed notes supposedly from audience members, with many of the messages making a not-so-subtle jab at their ages.
“Mine says, ‘First of all, you ladies look extremely beautiful tonight.’ Oh, that’s nice,” Rudolph said, reading her note out. “‘You’re all aging well. Signed, Stellan Skarsgård.’” The camera then panned to Skarsgård, who was nodding approvingly from the audience.
“Oh, this one’s for me. ‘Rose, can you please stop looking at me?’” Byrne read her note aloud. “‘The eye contact is too much. I’m thinking of leaving. I’m so uncomfortable. Sincerely, Leonardo DiCaprio.’”
The audience erupted into laughter as Kemper read out a final note: “Well, this last one is quick. It just says, ‘I’m tired and I want to go home. This show is very long, and there’s no pizza. Signed, the kid from Hamnet.’” From his row, Hamnet actor Jacobi Jupe gestured in agreement.
Prior to the ceremony, Bridesmaids director Paul Feig said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight that he wasn’t given details about why McLendon-Covey was not available for the reunion.
“I just heard that she was not available,” he said. “She might even be traveling, I’m not sure. But we will miss her terribly because I love Wendi.”
During one portion of the night, McCarthy admitted that she would love to film a sequel to the beloved comedy, but Feig admitted that it might be difficult to get the full cast together again, given their growing careers.
“I’m not worried about them at all, but I do miss having them all together,” the director said. “So who knows. It’s kind of up to Kristen Wiig, though.”
He explained that Wiig and Annie Mumolo are the movie’s co-writers and would likely be the ones needed to write the script for the sequel as well. Though Feig did say he had heard “ideas” for a follow-up, the two of them would need to make the final say.
“Really Kristen and Annie are the ones that birthed this movie with their amazing script, so I would never dare get in their way or be too presumptive,” he added.
During the night, a Marvel reunion took place Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, who celebrated the 14th anniversary of the original Avengers movie and presented the awards for Best Screenplay. Moulin Rouge! stars Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor also came together to celebrate the upcoming 25th anniversary of the film, as they presented the award for Best Picture.
You can find the full list of the night's award winners here, along with all the behind-the-scenes gossip from the awards show.
