John Travolta does not appear to realize when he is being, well, just plain icky. The former Saturday Night Fever star’s moves were more creepy than cool at last night’s Oscars, as Idina Menzel and Scarlet Johansson, as well as about a gazillion observers, would attest to.

First it was the red carpet scene, when he came up behind Johansson unannounced. An extended hug, a hand lingering too long on the waist and a kiss on the cheek left Johansson looking awkward and the cameras zooming in. Then there was the presentation of the Oscar for original song, for which he joined Menzel on stage.

Travolta mangled Menzel’s name during the 2014 presentation, calling her Adele Dazeem. She playfully returned the insult last night, introducing Travolta as Glom Gazingo. “I deserved that,” said Travolta, who then grabbed Menzel’s face in a caress that might not have been so awkward had it not gone on so long. “But you, my darling, my beautiful, my wickedly talented Idina Menzel,” he said while continuing to palm her face. Menzel congratulated him on pronouncing her name correctly and grinned uncomfortable as Travolta continued to hold onto her chin.

Producers tried to give Travolta a chance to redeem himself from last year’s gaff with Menzel’s name by having him present with her. The advantage was lost with the creepy moment, leaving many feeling the touchy-feely stuff was just a little inappropriate, as was the impression of the red carpet encounter with Johansson.

“Travolta leans in, grosses out,” was the take from the Boston Globe. “The most awkward moment of the Oscars,” came from the Evening Standard. Robbie Collin from The Telegraph went so far as to say that Travolta’s encounter with Johansson “sums up sexism in Hollywood.”

Etiquette guru Liz Brewer said that there is no public setting in which Travolta’s behavior would be considered acceptable, especially not a dignified event like the Oscars, where people are on stage representing their trade. Daniel Post Senning of the Emily Post Institute said that a useful guideline to evaluate appropriate action is the “gender test.” If John Travolta would not find himself stroking a male co-presenter’s face, then he probably should not be doing it to Idina Menzel.