Always a Bridesmaid? Well, not for Wendi McLendon-Covey last night.
McLendon-Covey did not take her rightful place alongside Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Rose Byrne, Ellie Kemper and Maya Rudolph when the Bridesmaids cast reunited on the Oscar stage to present the Best Score and Best Sound award. Now she’s explaining why, and for the record, no, she wasn’t snubbed – she was recuperating.
In an Instagram post that includes a photo of McLendon-Covey in a Jacob Marley-style head bandage, the actor says, “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. So I had to skip the Academy Awards. No drama. Everything is fine.”
McLendon-Covey, who played the cynical, blunt-talking Rita in the 2011 ensemble comedy, didn’t explain why she chose to schedule the surgery just before the big reunion. Director Paul Feig doesn’t seem to know either: He told Entertainment Tonight, “I just heard that she was not available….She might even be traveling, I’m not sure. But we will miss her terribly, because I love Wendy.”
McLendon-Covey has certainly been busy as of late, starring as Joyce in the NBC mockumentary sitcom St. Denis Medical.
The Bridesmaids reunion proved to be a comic highlight of the Oscar telecast, with the cast mates pondering the meaning of the word “sound” before reading the nominees in that category. Said Kemper, “I think I can help out here. I was just talking to this woman I met on a roller coaster, and she said that without sound, we wouldn’t hear anything.”
See McLendon-Covey’s Instagram post and the reunion below.
