While those who stayed up late and early into the morning had to wait until the end of the show for the most dramatic moment of the 89th Academy Awards, at least they were rewarded with a fail that will go down in Oscars history.
In an extraordinary turn of events, Bonnie & Clyde stars Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty reunited on the Dolby Theatre stage to announce the biggest prize on Oscar night, ‘Best Picture’. Despite nine nominees, pundits and followers would have considered it a two-horse race between La La Land and Moonlight, with the 76-year-old actress and Oscar-winning announcing the musical had nabbed the honour.
Cue the La La Land production and directing team taking to the stage, ready to crown off an evening that saw the film win six awards, including ‘Best Director’ for Damien Chazelle and ‘Best Actress’ for Emma Stone. But as the speeches were underway, film producer Fred Berger turned his back to the mumblings going on behind him, turn once again to face the crowd saying, “We lost, by the way.”
At that point, fellow producer Jordon Horowitz took the mic. “There’s a mistake. Moonlight,” he said, signalling the team behind Barry Jenkins’ film, “You guys won ‘Best Picture’.” Insisting that the flub was not a joke, Horowitz, in a moment that will undoubtedly go down in gif history, then brandished the winner’s card for the billion-strong audience watching at home to collectively wonder what on earth was going on.
Beatty and host Jimmy Kimmel explained away the flub by explaining the error was actually due to the wrong card being placed inside the envelope. After opening it, Beatty does appear to be somewhat bewildered in the tape, and claims that it was actually the ‘Best Actress’ one that awarded Emma Stone the prize for her role as Mia in La La Land.
“I opened the envelope and it said Emma Stone, La La Land. That’s why I looked at Faye, and at you. I wasn’t trying to be funny,” Beatty said.
Understandably, the mistake resulted in some very surprised reactions from the crowd in the theatre.
Watch the #Moonlight cast react to the mishap at the #Oscars https://t.co/Whd15lX6SY pic.twitter.com/Jo288RLDOv
— Tre'vell Anderson (@TrevellAnderson) February 27, 2017
And in true social media fashion, it wasn't long before everyone in Hollywood, Los Angeles, and beyond were using the blunder to create some of the best tweets of the night...
warren your enthusiasm pic.twitter.com/r0HqRWHuy1
— Seinfeld Current Day (@Seinfeld2000) February 27, 2017
I wrote the ending of the academy awards 2017. @jimmykimmel we really got them!
— M. Night Shyamalan (@MNightShyamalan) February 27, 2017
Why couldn't this have happened with the election?! #Oscars
— Jon Donahue (@JonDonahue) February 27, 2017
Have your people call our people - we know what to do. #Oscars #MissUniverse
— Miss Universe (@MissUniverse) February 27, 2017
You know what the problem is -- millions of Academy members voted illegally.
— Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) February 27, 2017
I can't believe the Super Bowl and the Oscars were both decided in overtime for the first time this year.
— Josh Gondelman (@joshgondelman) February 27, 2017
The LA LA LAND people were so classy. Amazing. Two great movies.
HOW MANY TIMES IS MOONLIGHT GONNA MAKE ME CRY
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) February 27, 2017
Don't y'all go blaming the old people for that one. They gave Warren Beatty the wrong envelope. It was probably Putin. #Moonlight #Oscars
— Official Wanda Sykes (@iamwandasykes) February 27, 2017
