It was an uncomfortable ending to what could have been a flawless show.
On Sunday night, “Moonlight,” an African-American coming-of-age film, won Best Picture at the 2017 Academy Awards. However, the usual celebratory jigs and speeches were marred by a major gaffe, as presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty announced awards circuit favorite “La La Land” instead as the winner, Reuters reported.
Buzzfeed noted that Beatty appeared hesitant towards the announcement of the winner. Dunaway then blurted out the romantic film, which starred Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, who is also an Academy Award winner for Best Actress. After a couple of speeches in by producers, including Jordan Horowitz, Horowitz then backtracked and said that the real winner was “Moonlight,” and even showed the winning card.
Eagle-eyed fans noticed that Beatty, before the announcement, held a winner card for “Actress in a Leading Role,” prompting confusion from Stone, who won in that category. Beatty has since confessed that he read the wrong card. At the press room, Stone said about the matter, “I was holding the best actress card the entire time. I had that card. I’m not looking to start anything,” she told the press in the Oscar media room, “I don’t know what happened (with them), but I wanted to tell all of you first.”
Nonetheless, Deadline said Stone was graceful about the snafu, and added, “I think everyone is in a state of confusion, but everyone is excited for “Moonlight.”A strange happening for Oscar history.”
PriceWaterhouse Cooper, who has been the longtime official accountant of this year’s Oscars, has expressed their deepest apology on the error, and that they are currently investigating the matter. They also revealed that the firm produces two copies per winner envelope, and that the presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong one.
