PricewaterhouseCoopers explains the Oscars best picture gaffe

Damien Chazelle’s Calgary grandmother, Constance Martin, says she was delighted about her grandson’s best-director win at Sunday’s Oscars, but thinks the unprecedented mix-up at the end of the night that led to La La Land mistakenly announced as victor of Best Picture was “very unfortunate”.

How did this debacle happen?

Beatty made a similar claim shortly after he and Dunaway mistakenly named “La La Land” the best picture victor, explaining to the audience that the card he read stated, “Emma Stone, ‘La La Land”. The one he had announced La La Land’s Emma Stone as victor for best actress, which had been given out minutes before. And as I said, I was deeply happy to be able to give it to those guys. So that card could not have made its way to Dunaway and Warren Beatty, who were announcing the Best Picture award. Someone at the Academy must have accidentally printed an extra in what can only be called a spectacular goof. Exhume those stories. The stories of the people who dreamed big and never saw those dreams to fruition.

He then held up the card that proved “Moonlight” was the victor. We stand on opposite sides of the stage, right off-screen, for the entire evening, and we each hand the respective envelope to the presenter. Beatty opens a red envelope and looks at the card inside, giving a double-take.

Then again, this is Hollywood, the land of make-believe. Awkward. But what exactly happened?

The Academy Awards provided its audience with either the greatest worst ending or the worst greatest ending of all time. Finally, Dunaway announced, “La La Land”.

The cast and crew of La La Land came up on stage and started their acceptance speeches. “And they served you well”, she said, appropriating a verse from U.S. writer Walt Whitman.

With trophies already in their hands and victory speeches already underway, “La La Land” filmmakers realized they hadn’t won. “We thought he was being coy and cute and milking it to make everybody suffer, but in reality, he was perplexed by why her name was on it”.

Jenkins then took the stage for a bemused acceptance speech.

PwC had earlier released an apology to Beatty, Dunaway, the cast and crew of “La La Land” and “Moonlight”, and host Jimmy Kimmel.

Was this Warren Beatty calling the wrong name intentionally?

But Horowitz was gracious and self-possessed from the moment the error was discovered. It only took a few moments before “La La Land” producer Jordan Horowitz looked down at the envelope and realized the real victor was “Moonlight”.

But in a highly unusual mishap, presenter Warren Beatty first, mistakenly initially announced that musical “La La Land” had won, causing confusion and uproar on Hollywood’s biggest night. And Truman actually beat Dewey (no thanks to the headline in the Chicago Daily Tribune), and Miss Philippines actually beat Miss Colombia in the Miss Universe pageant, and George Bush actually beat Al Gore in the Florida primary.