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What It Was Like Onstage During the Oscars 2017 Best Picture Mistake What It Was Like Onstage During the Oscars 2017 Best Picture Mistake
(about 9 hours later)
Jordan Horowitz knew something was wrong the moment he saw people in headsets scurrying across the Oscars stage. LOS ANGELES — It’s one of Hollywood’s most secretive and unusual jobs: Brian Cullinan, a partner at the accounting firm PwC, and a colleague are tasked with making sure the statuettes at the annual Academy Awards are correctly distributed. He stands in the wings of the Dolby Theater here in a tuxedo and pulls sealed envelopes out of a briefcase, giving the correct one to presenters as they walk onto the stage.
Only a minute earlier Faye Dunaway had said the words that Mr. Horowitz had longed to hear — “La La Land” — as she announced the best picture winner for the 2017 Academy Awards. Mr. Horowitz, a producer on that film, and colleagues and cast members raced to the stage. Mr. Horowitz spoke first — “Thank you to the academy,” he began — but his excitement quickly dissipated, as he recalled the shocking end to the night in an interview with The New York Times after the ceremony. This is the one night a year when the buttoned-down PwC really gets to shine. The firm’s chief executive sits with stars in the audience. Mr. Cullinan walks the red carpet, where reporters often say he resembles Matt Damon. He told one TV crew that he had no nerves. “We’ve done this a few times,” he said before Sunday night’s show, “and we prepare a lot.” He was so at ease, he even found time to tweet from backstage about Emma Stone as the show neared its climax.
“I’m holding the envelope and the award, and I had just given my speech, and there are people on the stage with headsets, and I thought, ‘That doesn’t seem right,’” Mr. Horowitz said at the Governors Ball, the official post-Oscars celebration. Whoops.
“They asked to see my envelope, which I haven’t opened,” he recalled. “Clearly something was wrong. They open my envelope, and it says ‘Emma Stone, “La La Land.”’ So clearly something is not right. The guys in headsets were going around with urgency looking for the other envelope — it just kind of appeared,” he said. “One of the guys opens it, and it says ‘Moonlight,’ and I took it onstage and went to the microphone and said what I said.” In an epic bungle before 33 million viewers — one that could get his company fired as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ accountant after 83 years and which robbed “Moonlight,” an all-black, gay-themed film, of its proper moment of celebration — Mr. Cullinan caused the show-business musical “La La Land” to be mistakenly named best picture at the 89th Academy Awards. PwC’s chief executive watched the scene from the third row.
What Mr. Horowitz said — “There’s a mistake. ‘Moonlight,’ you guys won best picture” — was one of the most surprising reversals in Oscar history, with apparent human error combining with live television to powerful, jaw-dropping effect. It was also a painful reminder, on the most celebratory night of the year for the film industry, that no system of voting is perfect, and it warped and dampened the euphoria of film executives and artists who had spent years working on the two movies. At the climactic moment backstage, a crew member shouted “Oh my God” as the jubilant producers of “La La Land” thanked their families. “He got the wrong envelope!”
And for the academy, which had been criticized last year for #OscarsSoWhite, there might have been something of a missed moment: Instead of a proper celebration of “Moonlight,” with its all-black cast and touching personal narrative, there was a televised scene of confusion, disbelief and astonishment. “He” was Warren Beatty, who, along with Faye Dunaway, presented the final award of the night. Mr. Beatty opened the envelope and, after some hesitation, handed it to Ms. Dunaway. She said that “La La Land,” about young California dreamers, was the winner. The crowd erupted in applause, and the “La La Land” team rushed the stage.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting firm that oversaw the academy voting and handled the award envelopes, issued a statement on Monday morning that apologized to those involved with the two movies; the award category presenters, Ms. Dunaway and Warren Beatty; and to Oscar viewers “for the error that was made during the award announcement for best picture.” Why did it take minutes to fix the error? “PwC sounded the alarm, but not right away,” Gary Natoli, the telecast’s stage manager, said in a text message. “It wasn’t until just before I jumped onstage that it was confirmed by both Brian and Martha as the winner being incorrect.” Martha L. Ruiz, a PwC colleague of Mr. Cullinan’s who stood on the opposite side of the stage, and Mr. Cullinan apparently needed to find each other backstage to confer before speaking up.
The statement added, “We appreciate the grace with which the nominees, the academy, ABC and Jimmy Kimmel handled the situation,” a reference to the network broadcasting the show and the host of the Oscars ceremony. It was one of the most surprising reversals in Oscar history, as human error combined with live television to powerful, jaw-dropping effect. It also warped and dampened the euphoria of film executives and artists who had spent years working on the two movies. And for the academy, which had been criticized last year for failing to nominate any minority actors for the second consecutive year, there was a missed moment: Instead of a proper celebration of “Moonlight,” there was a televised scene of confusion, disbelief and astonishment.
PricewaterhouseCoopers prepares two identical sets of sealed envelopes. The two partners from the firm who oversee the voting process, Martha L. Ruiz and Brian Cullinan, each have a briefcase with a complete set of the envelopes inside and stand on opposite sides of the stage. Backstage, Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd, the telecast’s producers, were sitting at their monitors, Diet Cokes in hand. They were under the impression that the show was a wrap. But the scene quickly became chaotic, as it emerged that the winner was, in fact, “Moonlight,” a tender drama about a young, black man coming to terms with his homosexuality.
The envelope for best actress, the penultimate award of the night, came from the side of the stage where Ms. Ruiz stood. “I’m holding the envelope and the award, and I had just given my speech, and there are people on the stage with headsets and I thought, ‘That doesn’t seem right,’” Jordan Horowitz, a “La La Land” producer, recalled.
After Ms. Stone accepted that honor, Ms. Dunaway and Mr. Beatty came out to present the best picture award from Mr. Cullinan’s side of the stage, where a best actress envelope was still unopened. Mr. Cullinan clearly handed Mr. Beatty the wrong envelope. Exactly what happened in the moments leading up to the mistaken announcement was still being sorted out on Monday, but pieces of the story began falling into place. Mr. Cullinan — perhaps distracted by his Twitter feed — handed Mr. Beatty an envelope containing the name of the best actress winner, an award that had already been given to Ms. Stone of “La La Land.” The next seven humiliating minutes would find Ms. Dunaway blurting out the wrong best picture winner, the A-list audience gasping and slack-jawed and a dance onstage as “La La Land” producers gracefully made way for the “Moonlight” team.
After Mr. Cullinan and Ms. Ruiz realized that the wrong winner had been announced, they notified the stage manager, which set in motion a chaotic scene onstage. Those details, provided by two people familiar with the process who were not authorized to speak publicly, helped clarify some of the details of what happened onstage Sunday night. “I haven’t received any formal explanation,” Marc Platt, another member of the “La La Land” producing team, said on Monday afternoon. “There may have been disappointment in the moment, tremendous disappointment, but the good news is that I feel a unity in our community today. ‘Moonlight’ won best picture. But many voices in many kinds of films were honored.”
Yet it still took more than two minutes between Ms. Dunaway announcing “La La Land” as best picture and an announcement from the “La La Land” producers that “Moonlight” was in fact the winner. Three “La La Land” producers had given acceptance speeches before the mistake was announced. This account of the awards show’s frantic final moments was based on interviews with producers of both “La La Land” and “Moonlight”; academy officials; crew members for the telecast; and PwC executives. Some provided information on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Exactly how the confusion resulting in Mr. Beatty’s being handed the wrong envelope occurred is not fully known. But it could have to do with the design. PricewaterhouseCoopers used a new envelope this year, featuring red paper with gold lettering that specifies the award inside. That may have made the outside of the envelopes more difficult to read than last year’s envelopes, which featured gold paper and red lettering. The academy is responsible for the envelope design. An academy spokeswoman directed queries to PwC. Another academy official said the organization had initiated a review of the backstage process and of the group’s association going forward with the accounting firm, which extends beyond balloting for the Oscars.
“I read the card that was in the envelope,” Mr. Beatty told reporters on his way to the Governors Ball. “I thought, ‘This is very strange because it says “best actress” on the card.’ And I felt that maybe there was some sort of misprint.” Pressed further, he said, “That’s all I have to say on the subject.” “I read the card that was in the envelope,” Mr. Beatty told reporters on his way to the Governors Ball, a post-show party. “I thought, ‘This is very strange because it says best actress on the card.’ And I felt that maybe there was some sort of misprint.” Pressed further, he said, “That’s all I have to say on the subject.” Ms. Dunaway declined to comment.
PricewaterhouseCoopers declined to comment beyond the statement it put out early Monday morning. For its part, PwC expressed remorse. “We are owning this mistake,” said Tim Ryan, the United States chairman of PwC. “I’ve reached out to the academy. I’ve shared my personal apology, the firm’s apology, and I’ve begun to talk to them about things we can do to make it right.”
For the filmmakers and actors in “Moonlight,” those final seven minutes of the Oscars ceremony — from Ms. Dunaway’s announcement of “La La Land” to the discovery that “Moonlight” had won to the speeches by its producers, by Mr. Beatty and by Mr. Kimmel — were no less stunning. The firm declined to make Mr. Cullinan available for an interview.
“The last 20 minutes of my life have been insane,” Barry Jenkins, the director of “Moonlight,” told reporters backstage after the ceremony. “I don’t think my life could be changed any more dramatically than the last 20 or 30 minutes.” In keeping with past practice, PwC prepared two identical sets of sealed envelopes before the Oscars show. Ms. Ruiz kept a complete set on one side of the stage, while Mr. Cullinan had another set on the other. According to an academy official, both Ms. Ruiz and Mr. Cullinan are also required to commit the entire winner list to memory as a backup.
André Holland, an actor in “Moonlight” who was attending the Oscars, said in an interview that he was sitting in the back of the hall with others from the film when he heard Mr. Horowitz, the “La La Land” producer, say from the stage: “There’s a mistake. ‘Moonlight,’ you guys won best picture.” It was Ms. Ruiz who handed the best actress envelope to Leonardo DiCaprio, who presented the award to Ms. Stone. (As they walked off the stage, Mr. DiCaprio handed her the envelope and said, “Make sure you keep this.”)
“We all looked at each other and were like, ‘Is this a joke?’” said Mr. Holland, who plays the character Kevin in the final third of the film. “We waited and kept watching — we didn’t want to celebrate until we knew if it was a joke and whether this was really happening. It was surreal.” Next up: Mr. Beatty and Ms. Dunaway, reuniting to mark the 50th anniversary of “Bonnie and Clyde” and announce the best picture winner.
Less than two minutes later, Mr. Holland was onstage with his “Moonlight” family. It was then that Mr. Cullinan handed Mr. Beatty the spare best-actress envelope instead of the best-picture envelope. What led to the mistake by Mr. Cullinan was not known, but it could have to do with the envelope’s design. The academy used a new envelope this year, featuring red paper with gold outside lettering that specifies the award inside. That may have made the outside of the envelopes more difficult to read than last year’s, which featured gold paper and red lettering.
“I still couldn’t believe we were up there,” Mr. Holland said, speaking by telephone to The Times a half-hour after the ceremony. “It was a ton of people onstage, and I don’t think anyone could believe it.” Mr. Napoli, the stage manager, was the one who approached Mr. Horowitz, the “La La Land” producer, to see that the envelope he was holding was the spare announcing Ms. Stone’s acting win. “The guys in headsets were going around with urgency looking for the other envelope,” Mr. Horowitz said. “One of the guys opens it, and it says ‘Moonlight,’ and I took it onstage and went to the microphone and said what I said.”
Afterward, Mahershala Ali, who won best supporting actor for “Moonlight,” said backstage that he had been thrown by the turn of events. Mr. Horowitz reacted quickly.
“I just didn’t want to go up there and take anything from somebody, you know?” he said. “You guys, I’m sorry, no,” he said from the stage. “There’s a mistake. ‘Moonlight,’ you guys won best picture.”
Mr. Jenkins told “Entertainment Tonight” that he “could see it in Jordan’s face, that he was speaking the truth,” referring to Mr. Horowitz. For the filmmakers and actors in “Moonlight,” those final minutes were no less stunning.
“I wanted to feel compassion for him,” Mr. Jenkins said. “I’m pretty sure the first thing I do when I get up onstage is give him a hug because it couldn’t have been easy. But these things happen, you know. They happen.” “We all looked at each other and were like, ‘Is this a joke?’” the actor Andre Holland said in a post-show interview. “We waited and kept watching. We didn’t want to celebrate until we knew if it was a joke and whether this was really happening.”
Later, he posted on Twitter about what Mr. Horowitz had gone through: As soon as the show ended, Dawn Hudson, the academy’s chief executive, jumped from her seat in the theater and marched backstage. Ms. Hudson and Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the academy’s president, gathered Ms. Dunaway, Mr. Beatty, the PwC accountants and other crew members into the theater’s green room.
Mr. Horowitz, who gave up the Oscar in his hand with almost preternatural calm, said that he was “sad” in that moment but also savored the fact that “La La Land” won six Oscars during the night. “I’ve never seen Dawn look that mad,” a crew member said.
“It was a surreal kind of out-of-body experience,” he said. Referring to awards season events with the “Moonlight” filmmakers and others, he added, “We’ve been on the circuit with them for six months. If that kind of thing has to happen, I’m glad to give it to them.”
As Mr. Horowitz spoke, colleagues and others came up to him, hugging him and saying how gracious he was. Then Adele Romanski, a “Moonlight” producer, came up to him, and they gave each other a huge hug. “I got to give a speech and then give you an award,” Mr. Horowitz said.