A Shocking Ending Caps A Big Oscar Night For ‘Moonlight’

But indeed, by the time they prepared to announce best picture, La La Land had gone on a late run and nabbed six awards: for production design, cinematography, best original score, best original song (“City Of Stars”), best actress (Stone), and best director. Watch the moment below.

At The Oscars an envelope mix-up saw La La Land erroneously announced as the best picture victor by presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, after which it was reawarded to Moonlight.

Moonlight, which follows the life of a black boy dealing with his sexuality, scooped three prizes – best picture, best adapted screenplay and best supporting actor for Mahershala Ali. When “La La Land’s” Jordan Horowitz revealed the mistake – “this is not a joke, “Moonlight” won” – the audience in the Dolby Theatre erupted in gasps. The Moonlight team jumped out of their seats, surrounded by attendees who were just as shocked and thrilled as they were.

Warren Beatty, who presented the final award of the evening with Faye Dunaway, paused for several seconds as he looked at the card bearing the name of the winning movie.

The were given the back-up envelope for best actress in a leading role – rather than the envelope which contained the name of the victor for the best film.

“I think they were focused so hard on politics that they didn’t get the act together at the end”, Trump said.

The conflict is reflected in the wide range of best picture Oscar hopefuls and an awards season marked by fiery outbursts from Hollywood A-listers on immigration, civil rights and the rhetoric of US President Donald Trump. Shortly before he led a dazed, unsuspecting tour group into the theater, presenter Gael Garcia Bernal, the Mexican actor, declared: “As a migrant worker, as a Mexican, and as a human being, I am against any wall”.

“I will be glad when all these firsts and thirds and fifths are a thing of the past”, Jenkins says. As one producer after another delivers heartfelt thanks, a stagehand brings out the correct envelope and can be seen in the background, showing it to the “winners”. In fact, best picture had not been won by La La Land, but by Moonlight, a handsome, moving, and very low-priced independent coming-of-age drama. Beatty, who was left looking mortified, clarified that it was indeed a mix-up and that he “wasn’t trying to be amusing”. Per Vanity Fair, she, “seemingly unfazed, was snacking on cashews backstage in the first moments after the Best Picture announcement”. “Oh my God, he got the wrong envelope”, said a stage hand in the wings. I loved the bit where Kimmel tweeted Trump mid-show, to ask if the Twitter-happy prez was watching from the White House: “U up?” He came upstairs and he walked over to me, and he showed the card.

From now on, any kind of movie can and should be considered a potential Best Picture candidate, and we should hope for future contenders that also make more room for Asian, Latin American and indigenous talent, too.