Presenter Faye Dunaway made the mistaken announcement of Best Picture after co-presenter Warren Beatty apparently gave her the wrong envelope.
Acceptance speeches from “La La Land” producers Jordan Horowitz, Marc Platt, and Fred Berger followed before Horowitz stepped in to say “Midnight” had won.
Beatty told the audience that they had read the wrong envelope, and that it was in fact the envelope that said Emma Stone won best lead actress for “La La Land,” a prize that had been announced just moments before.
“I opened the envelope and it said Emma Stone, ‘La La Land,’” he explained. “That’s why I looked at Faye, and at you. I wasn’t trying to be funny.”
Host Jimmy Kimmel then took to the microphone to ask, “Warren, what did you do?!”
If Twitter can be trusted, it looks like Kimmel should take back his light-hearted blaming of Beatty. Several people, including 2015 host Neil Patrick Harris, posted pictures that proved the presenters were, in fact, given the best actress envelope.
Both presenters did look thoroughly confused. As Beatty opened the card, he handed it to Dunaway, who then said “La La Land.”
Beatty did not elaborate as to how it was that he came into possession of the wrong announcement. Stone told reporters backstage, “I was holding my best actress card the whole time.”
There are always two sets of envelopes: The PriceWaterhouseCoopers accountants bring two briefcases, then stand backstage, one on each side of the stage. They hand the envelopes to the presenters right before they walk out.
Barry Jenkins: Things Just Happen
Backstage, “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins elaborated further that they were given “no explanation,” but that he did see the famed card. “Things just happen,” he said. “I will say, I saw two cards. And so, things just happen. I wanted to see the card, to see the card. Warren refused to show the card to anybody before he showed it to me. And so he did. He came upstairs and he walked over to me, and he showed the card. And everybody was asking, ‘Can I see the card’? And he’s like, ‘no, Barry Jenkins has to see the card, I need him to know.’ And he showed it to me. I felt better about what happened.”
“The folks from ‘La La Land’ were so gracious. I can’t imagine being in their position and having to do that. We spent a lot of time together over the past six months.”
