The 2017 Academy Awards ceremony will go down in history, but for the wrong reasons. It will be remembered for the monumental mistake that resulted in a highly embarrassing moment for many at Sunday night's prestigious event.
Hollywood veteran, Warren Beatty, has called on the Academy to publicly explain the confusion that led to one of the most cringeworthy moments in the history of the awards.
How Oscar got lost
The pinnacle of the annual event was marked by the announcement of the Best Picture winner. This year the honor fell on the critically acclaimed “La La Land”.
Or did it? It wasn't until the producers of the film were in the final stages of their acceptance speech, that anyone noticed something was amiss. The stars and production crew of the film seemed to be confused after two employees of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the independent auditing firm in charge of the ballot, walked onto the stage and spoke to the producers.
There had been a mix-up with the envelopes backstage, and the wrong card. Faye Dunaway was joined by her “Bonnie and Clyde” co-star, Warren Beatty, to present the award. Instead of the card for Best Picture, Beatty had been given the card for Best Actress, which had already been awarded to Emma Stone for her performance in “La La Land.” The real winner of the Best Picture award was in fact “Moonlight”, another season favorite that had been nominated in various categories.
Jordan Horowitz, producer of “La La Land”, quickly corrected the mistake after learning about the Oscars flub, by announcing the true winners and congratulating his colleagues with genuine humility, as the cast of “Moonlight” took to the stage to receive their award.
Beatty issues statement
Mr. Beatty has issued a statement to all media, via the Associated Press, urging the president of the Academy of Motion Pictures to provide clarity on the events that led to the debacle.
He insisted that it would be more prudent for Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the president of the Academy, to speak to the media and the public about what went wrong. So far the Academy has only issued a statement apologizing for the blunder, refusing to take responsibility, and instead passing the buck to the auditors.
The U.S. chairman and senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Tim Ryan, later explained that he was the one who had mistakenly handed the wrong envelope to Warren Beatty moments before the star took to the stage to present the award.
