diff --git a/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/widgets/base.js b/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/widgets/base.js
index fcc30c51a..2f95ce7a3 100644
--- a/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/widgets/base.js
+++ b/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/widgets/base.js
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ function(widget_manager, underscore, backbone){
                         clear_output : handle_clear_output,
 
                         status : function (msg) {
-                            that._handle_status(msg, that.cell_callbacks());
+                            that.model._handle_status(msg, that.cell_callbacks());
                         },
 
                         // Special function only registered by widget messages.