Oscars 2026: Why Wendi McLendon-Covey Missed The Bridesmaids Reunion

This year’s Oscars ceremony featured a hilarious Bridesmaids reunion to commemorate the film’s 15th anniversary.

However, as fans of the hit comedy will no doubt have quickly noticed, the group was actually a bridesmaid down when they took to the stage during the awards show on Sunday evening.

During the broadcast, Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph were joined by former co-stars Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper and Rose Byrne, the latter of whom was nominated for her first Academy Award at the event, for her performance in the dark comedy If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.

However, noticeably absent was Wendi McLendon-Covey, who went on to appear in The Goldbergs and St. Denis Medical in the years since her break-out performance as Rita.

Explaining Wendi’s no-show, Bridesmaids director Paul Feig told Entertainment Tonight on the Oscars red carpet: “I just heard that she was not available. She might even be traveling, I’m not sure.”

He quickly added: “But we will miss her terribly, because I love Wendi.”

Watch the Bridesmaids gang’s reunion skit for yourself below:

Upon its release in 2011, Bridesmaids was nominated for two Oscars, with Melissa McCarthy receiving an acting nod and screenwriters Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo also getting recognition for the script.

Melissa received a second Academy Award nomination in 2020 following her leading performance in Can You Ever Forgive Me?.

With six wins in total, the big winner at the 2026 Oscars was One Battle After Another, written and directed by Maya Rudolph’s long-term partner Paul Thomas Anderson.

After setting a new record for the most nominations in Oscars history, Sinners won four awards on the night, with Frankenstein and KPop Demon Hunters also coming away with multiple wins each.

Check out our full round-up of all the winners from this year’s Academy Awards here.