Wendi McLendon-Covey was absent from Bridesmaids Oscars reunion due to plastic surgery recovery
In a social media announcement to her fans, actress Wendi McLendon-Covey revealed she was absent from the Bridesmaids reunion at the 98th Academy Awards as she was recovering from plastic surgery.
Wendi McLendon-Covey was absent from the Bridesmaids reunion at the 98th Academy Awards as she was recovering from plastic surgery.
The actress, 56, appeared in the 2011 comedy as irritated wife Rita, did not attend Sunday (15.03.26) night’s ceremony when several of her former co-stars reunited on stage to present awards during the Oscars broadcast.
Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Ellie Kemper and Maya Rudolph appeared together to present the award for Best Score and the award for Best Sound, marking a reunion 15 years after the film’s release.
Following the ceremony, Wendi addressed her absence on Instagram, explaining to followers that she had undergone a neck lift shortly before the event.
She wrote on Instagram alongside a snap of her bandaged 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. So I had to skip the Academy Awards.”
She also reassured fans there was no conflict with her Bridesmaids co-stars surrounding her absence from the reunion.
Wendi wrote there was “no drama” and everything was “fine”.
Her Instagram post photograph of her lying in bed with a bandage wrapped around her head showed her without makeup and wearing navy blue pyjamas.
Former model and age-positivity activist Paulina Porizkova was among those responded to the post in the comments.
Paulina wrote: “Hope you recover easily!”
During the ceremony, Kristen and her co-stars were greeted with cheers and applause when they walked onto the stage together to present the awards.
Kristen told the audience: “We are so happy to all be here together tonight. I cannot believe that it's been 15 years.”
She added: “Now we are not good with numbers, but we figured out backstage that means we shot this movie in 1883.”
Bridesmaids was directed by Paul Feig, and premiered in 2011.
The film became a major commercial success, earning $289 million at the box office from a budget of $32.5 million.
It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, while Melissa McCarthy was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
Viewers watching the ceremony reacted on X, formerly known as Twitter, with several calling for a sequel to the film.
One user wrote: “It made me so happy to see the Bridesmaids cast reunite again. They were hilarious.”
Another user wrote: “Ok but what if the cast of Bridesmaids hosted next year or even just reunited for like SPY 2.”
