Best Picture Snafu: Accounting Firm Issues Statement

PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting firm for the Oscars has chimed in with an official statement following the snafu that occurred on the Oscar telecast in announcing the Best Picture winner.

Hollywood veterans Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway – announcing the category in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of their classic Bonnie and Clyde – erroneously announced that La La Land, the presumptive Oscar favorite, had won the top prize. This lead to massive confusion on stage from the start, as the envelope read aloud was actually the Best Actress winning envelope – an award won by La La Land‘s leading lady Emma Stone. In the midst of the producers of La La Land – Jordan Horowitz, Fred Berger, Marc Platt and Gary Gilbert – accepting Hollywood’s top prize, a strange occurrence occurred on stage when it was revealed that Moonlight was actually the winner in a surprising upset.

Statement below:

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.

—PwC

James Tisch: Managing Editor, mxdwn Movies || Writer. Procrastinator. Film Lover. Sparked by the power of the movies (the films of Alfred Hitchcock served as a pivotal gateway drug during childhood), James began ruminating and essaying the cinema at a young age and forged forward as a young blogger, contributor and eventual editor for mxdwn Movies. Outside of mxdwn, James served as a film programmer for one of the busiest theaters in the greater Los Angeles area and frequently works on the local film festival circuit. He resides in Los Angeles. james@mxdwn.com
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