Olivia Newton-John’s Publicist Reacts to Late ‘Grease’ Star’s Emmys In Memoriam Snub

When Olivia Newton-John was left out of the In Memoriam segment at the 2022 Emmys, the internet noticed — and so did her publicist. The late Grease star, who died in August after a decades-long battle with cancer, was snubbed by the awards telecast and left off the list of late entertainers who died this year.

After Monday’s (Sept. 12) Emmys, Newton-John’s publicist Michael Caprio expressed his frustration with TMZ and said he was “personally very disappointed by the snub,” the outlet reports.

Caprio worked with Newton-John for over two decades, serving as her publicist for 24 years. He told TMZ he thought the choice to leave Newton-John out of the Emmys segment “wasn’t right,” citing her impact on film, TV and music over the decades.

While Newton-John was best known for her role as Sandy in the hit 1978 movie musical Grease, she also appeared in 1980’s Xanadu and reunited with her Grease co-star John Travolta for 1983’s Two of a Kind.

Newton-John also had a lengthy television resume, Caprio told TMZ, with her TV movie A Mom for Christmas, plus guest appearances on hits like Murphy Brown, Glee and American Idol. She was even nominated for her own Emmy in 1977 and in 1999, won a  Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Original Song.

Caprio also pointed TMZ to Newton-John’s TV specials, including 1976’s A Special Olivia Newton-John, which aired on ABC, and Olivia Physical, a 1982 special from her popular album of the same name.

Newton-John was one of many stars left out of this year’s In Memoriam. Along with the singer and actress, the Emmys also managed to exclude late comedian Norm MacDonald, who was nominated in three categories at this year’s awards but was not featured in the tribute to late entertainers, which included Betty White, Bob Saget, Robert LuPone, Anne Heche and more.