The Emmys were slammed after excluding the late Olivia Newton-John from their “In Memoriam” tribute on Monday.
The famed pop music icon died in August after a thirty-year intermittent battle against cancer in August. She was 73.
“How do forget Olivia Newton John? How dare you. She is and always will be an icon. And you forgot her?” one social media user fired.
The Emmys’ tribute included James Caan, Tony Dow, Gilbert Gottfried, Anne Heche, Howard Hesseman, Dwayne Hickman, Ray Liotta, Robert Morse, Roger Mosley, Nichelle Nichols, Sidney Poitier, Bob Saget, Peter Scolari, Yoko Shimada, Paul Sorvino, Dean Stockwell, David Warner, and Betty White.
“Olivia Newton-John not being included? Explain yourselves #Emmys,” chimed in another disgruntled observer, while another snapped, “Ok watching Emmys and they just honored many who have passed, where was Olivia Newton-John?”
Newton-John was included on the Emmys’ ‘In Memoriam” page. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992.
Newton John first rose to prominence with her album “Let Me be There,” in 1973, for which she won the first of four Grammys. She followed that with two Number One hits: “ I Honestly Love You” in 1974 and “Have You Never Been Mellow” in 1975.
Although never a major TV star, she appeared on numerous TV shows, including “Bette,” “Murphy Brown,” “Ned and Stacey” and “Sordid Lives: The Series,” as well as the TV movies “A Mom For Christmas” and “A Christmas Romance.”
Newton-John’s close friend actress Jane Seymour spoke of Newton-John’s courage: “I realized that she was a unique friend. I have friends, but not like her in my life. I just remember so clearly our conversations and the smile on her face. And then the fact that she wasn’t afraid, I don’t think, to pass. She just didn’t want to miss out on life.”
Seymour recalled her last visit to Newton-John in February when she was thinking “this could easily be the last time I see her.”
“But I felt that before … several years before when she was incredibly frail and on a lot of pain meds and I just thought, oh my gosh, she, she was barely eating,” the actress stated. “She looked so frail. We were all surprised. She pulled it all back together again and had a quality of life again. It was amazing. She defied all the odds, really.”
Katie Jerkovich contributed to this report.