At the 89th annual Academy Awards, ‘best picture’ presenter Faye Dunaway announced “La La Land” as the final and most prestigious Oscar winner of the night. Unfortunately for all parties involved, “La La Land” was not the winner, “Moonlight” was. This made for a very awkward and confusing situation.
The presenter, Dunaway, was not at fault as she was just reading from the envelope she was given. Price Waterhouse Coopers, who is the official accountant of the Oscars, handed her the wrong envelope, responding:
“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 firm said in a statement. “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.”
Fox News gives the play-by-play, “After some odd hemming and hawing, Beatty and Dunaway said “La La Land” had won best picture. The “La La Land” cast rushed the stage and started their acceptance speeches. But a couple of minutes into the happy scene, while they were all still onstage hugging one another and thanking family and friends, producer Jordan Horowitz stopped short and announced suddenly that “Moonlight” had in fact won.
He then held up the card that proved “Moonlight” was the winner in the best picture category. As the “Moonlight” cast and crew then confusedly took the stage, chaos ensued.”
