Oscars’ Auditor Apologises for Goof-Up; Promises to Investigate

The producer of La La Land holds up the right card. (Photo: Reuters)

PricewaterhouseCoopers, the official accountant of the Academy Awards, issued a statement on the Oscar gaffe in which Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced La La Land as Best Picture before declaring the actual winner, Moonlight.

We sincerely apologize to Moonlight, La La Land, Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for Best Picture. The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and when discovered, was immediately corrected. We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred. We appreciate the grace with which the nominees, the Academy, ABC, and Jimmy Kimmel handled the situation.

Also Read: Oscar Embarrassment: ‘La La Land’ Vs ‘Moonlight’ for Best Picture

The mix-up led to a huge confusion on stage because La La Land began to give their acceptance speech before they were interrupted. Apparently, Beatty and Dunaway were given the Best Actress envelope which had Emma Stone (La La Land) written on it. Later, La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz told a shocked Dolby Theater, “There’s a mistake. Moonlight, you guys won Best Picture.”

Beatty explained the situation and said,

“I want to tell you what happened. I opened the envelope and it said Emma Stone, La La Land. That’s why I took such a long look at Faye and at you. I wasn’t trying to be funny.”

Emma Stone, though, told reporters backstage about the she was holding her card the whole time.

The Academy has only sent out the PWC statements to media outlets. They haven’t issued statement of their own.

(Source: Variety)