By now all of us have kind of started recovering from the awful blunder that was the Oscars 2017 finale. After declaring La La Land the winner of the Best Picture trophy and its producers making speeches, the stage manager realised it was a mistake. Moonlight was then declared the winner.
Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel talks about the episode on his show Jimmy Kimmel Live! in his customary style.
La La Land was simultaneously somehow the biggest winner and the biggest loser last night. You know it’s a strange night when the word ‘envelope’ is trending on Twitter.Jimmy Kimmel, TV Host
Kimmel then goes on to share exactly what happened during the Oscar finale. Watch the video here:
According to a report by Reuters, an accountant for the Academy Awards botched the meticulous procedure for announcing the Oscar for best picture when he handed victory to La La Land before declaring Moonlight the real winner, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said on Monday.
Accountant Brian Cullinan, who media reports said had been tweeting backstage shortly before, gave presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway the wrong envelope for the movie industry's top award on Sunday, the accounting firm said in a statement. "Cullinan mistakenly handed the back-up envelope for Actress in a Leading Role instead of the envelope for Best Picture" to Beatty and Dunaway, PwC said.
Under a PwC procedure, just two accountants know the names of the 24 winners after their names are placed in two sets of sealed envelopes. The two accountants also memorize the winning names.
Tradition has it that the envelopes are taken separately in two briefcases to the Academy Awards venue. The two accountants - in this case Cullinan and Martha Ruiz - are driven there separately, in case of an accident or traffic delays.
The pair then stand off stage at opposite sides and hand envelopes to the respective presenters as each category is announced.
Last week, Cullinan told the Huffington Post the procedure for dealing with the hand-off of an incorrect envelope, other than signaling to a stage manager, was unclear.
"It's so unlikely," Cullinan added. Doesn’t seem so unlikely now, does it?
(With inputs from Reuters)
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