Wendi McLendon-Covey Misses Bridesmaids Oscars Reunion Due to Neck Lift

Fans of the 2011 comedy classic Bridesmaids did a double-take Sunday night when five of the film’s stars took the Oscars stage without a sixth. Wendi McLendon-Covey was conspicuously absent as Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, and Ellie Kemper reunited to present awards for best original score and sound at the 98th Academy Awards.  Wendi McLendon-Covey misses the Bridesmaids reunion news and sent fans to social media with questions.

The actress quickly addressed the speculation with a characteristically blunt and humorous Instagram post. Sharing a photo of herself with a surgical bandage wrapped under her chin and around her head, she wrote: “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”.

The reunion honored the 15th anniversary of Paul Feig’s groundbreaking comedy, which grossed nearly $300 million worldwide and redefined the female comedy genre. The film earned two Oscar nominations in 2012: best supporting actress for McCarthy and best original screenplay for Wiig and Annie Mumolo.

On stage, the five actresses delivered a hilarious bit involving pretend handwritten notes from A-list audience members. Maya Rudolph claimed a note from Stellan Skarsgård praised them: “You ladies look extremely beautiful tonight. You’re all aging well” . Rose Byrne read one supposedly from Leonardo DiCaprio: “Rose, can you please stop looking at me? The eye contact is too much. I’m thinking of leaving. I’m very uncomfortable”. The camera panned to DiCaprio, whose reaction became an instant meme.

Wiig joked that her note came from Benicio del Toro and read: “You guys have been talking for a long time. This bit could have been a lot shorter”.

Before McLendon-Covey’s Instagram post cleared things up, Bridesmaids director Paul Feig told Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet that he wasn’t sure why she wasn’t there. “I just heard that she was not available,” he said. “But we will miss her terribly, because I love Wendi”.

Her explanation quickly put any rumors of cast drama to rest. Support poured in from friends and fans, including her St. Denis Medical co-star Allison Tolman, who commented: “Congratulations queen, I cannot WAIT to see her. (Your neck)”.

The reunion carried extra significance for Rose Byrne, who was nominated for best actress for her performance in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. Though the award went to Jessie Buckley for Hamnet, Byrne’s first career nomination marked a milestone.

The 2026 Oscars were dominated by Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, which won six awards, and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, which took four.

Despite fan hopes for a Bridesmaids sequel, the cast has consistently shot down the idea. Wiig told Andy Cohen in 2021 that she and Mumolo “weren’t really interested in, like, going back and writing another one”. McLendon-Covey echoed that sentiment to Us Weekly the same year: “For 10 years we’ve been saying that there will be no sequel. And that’s coming from Kristen’s mouth”.

For now, fans will have to treasure the reunion that happened, even if it was missing one bridesmaid who was busy recovering and, in her own words, “tired of looking like a melting candle”.