Although it’s been a year since the last Academy Awards, we all still remember the tangible awkwardness during the “Best Picture” award crowning in 2017.
It had been a rather uneventful night when Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway took the stage to announce the nominees for “Best Picture,” the biggest award of the night. As the fateful words were said: “and the award goes to…” We witnessed Beatty take an awkwardly long pause as the crowd laughed along. He pushed the envelope toward Dunaway who unapologetically announced “La La Land” as the winner. While many had hoped “Moonlight” would take the prize, audiences in the room and watching at home all saw the win for “La La Land” as predictable and expected. The Academy was following decorum and not breaking from tradition.
Then the unthinkable happened. Producers rushed onto the stage as the cast and crew of “La La Land” began making their acceptance speeches. Whispers were hushedly shared until a producer from the film, Jordan Horowitz, took the to the microphone.
“Moonlight, you guys won best picture.”
No one believed him. At one of the most formal and prestigious events in the entertainment industry there was no room for errors.
“This is not a joke,” he said. “Come up here.”
At this point the stage was filled with “La La Land” cast and crew, Oscars producers and host Jimmy Kimmel.
“I’m afraid they read the wrong thing,” can be overheard. Horowitz continues to adamantly announce that “Moonlight” has won. Audible gasps can be heard from the crowd. The correct card is brought to the stage and Horowitz snatches it out of Beatty’s hand to hold it up to the monitor.
It reads: “Best Picture: Moonlight.”
Cameras flock to the cast and crew of the film who are visibly stunned. They take to the stage which is now filled to capacity. In the meantime, Jimmy Kimmel tries to rectify the awkward situation with a fumbling monologue of confusion. As the cast of “Moonlight” are seen hugging each other in the background, Beatty explains the mix up. The card he held read, “Emma Stone: La La Land.” That is, the card that announced her win for “Best Actress.”
There’s little opportunity for speeches at this point as the cast and crew, the audience, and everyone involved is completely shocked. “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins does his best and the show ends.
How could the most prestigious night in film make sure a glaring error for the biggest award of the night?
The obvious answer is that employees for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), the law firm that has managed the balloting for the Oscars for the last eight decades, handed out the wrong envelope to Beatty before the nominees were announced. Following the ceremony, it was revealed that the executive responsible for handing the envelope to Beatty had been on Twitter in the moments just prior to the incident insinuating he was distracted.
Although no legal consequences followed, for such a seemingly simple error, the reputations of both the Academy and PWC were significantly tarnished.
For 2018, The Academy isn’t taking any chances and have enacted more protocols to ensure that no mistakes occur this year. PWC has been invited back to handle the balloting for this year’s ceremony. However, executives have stated that the two employees responsible for last years mishap, although still employed by PWC, will not be working at the event.. Furthermore, PWC has banned the use of social media and electronic devices in the backstage area of the awards ceremony in hopes that employees will be less distracted.
The chain of command in the handling of envelopes has also been altered. This year, as envelopes are handed out by PWC employees both the presenters and a stage manager will ensure that it is the correct envelope.
In an interview with The Associated Press, PWC’s U.S. chairman Tim Ryan said, “My nature, just as a person, is healthy paranoia.” He went on to say, “But I also know in my head that we haven’t left any step undone. We owe that to the Academy. While I feel very, very good about all the work that’s been done and the attention to detail that’s in place, our job doesn’t end until that curtain closes.”
Although last year’s mishap proved to be a moment that put the Oscars in the media spotlight amidst dwindling interest from audiences, it wasn’t for reasons the Academy wishes to repeat. With controversy already stewing regarding how the Academy will handle the #metoo movement at this years ceremony, the Academy can’t afford any mishaps on the scale of 2017. Still, The Academy is seemingly taking things in stride, using last year’s mishap as a way to promote this years ceremony. In promoting the event, Jimmy Kimmel has said his opening monologue will include jokes about the incident.This year, the famous catchphrase has been altered and what we’ll be sure to hear instead is: “May we have the correct envelope, please.”
H/T E! News & The Ringer