The biggest blunder in Oscar history is apparently caused by an “excited” accountant. According to The Hollywood Reporter, presenter Warren Beatty was given the wrong winner card by Brian Cullinan, chairman of the U.S. board of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the world’s top accounting firms and a longtime accountant for the Academy.
Beatty and co-presenter Faye Dunaway declared “La La Land” as Best Picture based on the confusing card, but had later corrected that it was “Moonlight” instead, well after two producers of the musical drama had said their speeches.
The second statement from the firm read, “PwC partner Brian Cullinan mistakenly handed the back-up envelope for Actress in a Leading Role instead of the envelope for Best Picture to presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. Once the error occurred, protocols for correcting it were not followed through quickly enough by Mr. Cullinan or his partner.”
Media reports have been saying that Cullinan was tweeting backstage, including a photo of Best Actress winner Emma Stone just moments prior to the mix-up. Fortune said the damning photo has long been taken down, but still viewable as of this writing on a cache archive. There has also been attempts on getting Cullinan for comment about the matter.
The Academy also offered their apologies to the casts and crews of both “La La Land” and real winner “Moonlight.” The Academy said that although PwC has been with them for the last 83 years, they "will determine what actions are appropriate going forward," CBC.ca reported.
