Global accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers has issued a mea culpa for the epic fail at the Oscars in which “La La Land” was mistakenly declared best picture.
“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,” said PwC, which has overseen the Academy’s ballot-counting for 83 years.
“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,” the statement said.
Over the years, the firm has provided two sets of winners’ envelopes in briefcases that are sent to the Dolby Theatre — one briefcase for either side of the stage, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In the epic flub, Beatty opened the best actress envelope, seemed confused, hesitated and showed it to “Bonnie and Clyde” co-star Dunaway, who blurted out “La La Land.”
A production source was overheard backstage saying: “It was not Warren’s fault!”
Others yelled “Oh my f—- God!” and “He’s got the wrong envelope!”
The mistake wasn’t fixed until after several members of the Lionsgate movie’s team had already given their acceptance speeches.
“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,” the mortified Beatty said moments later, laughing nervously.
Kimmel also jumped in and offered a joke to alleviate the tension.
“This is very unfortunate, what happened. Personally, I blame Steve Harvey for this,” Kimmel said, referring to how Harvey had announced the wrong winner of the Miss Universe Pageant in 2015.
“Well, I don’t know what happened. I blame myself for this. Let’s remember, it’s just an awards show. I mean, we hate to see people disappointed, but the good news is, we got to see some extra speeches. We had some great movies. I knew I would screw this show up, I really did,” Kimmel added.
“La La Land” producer Jordan Horowitz recounted the frantic moments after his flick was declared the winner.
“I was ecstatic, it was amazing. I thought we won an Oscar,” Horowitz told The Hollywood Reporter. “Some guys in headsets started buzzing around. It became clear that something was wrong. They took the envelope I had. It said ‘Emma Stone, La La Land’ on it.
“It was clear that there was something wrong. We started looking for the best picture envelope. Nobody knew where it was. Then it appeared, they opened it next to me and it said ‘Moonlight.'”
PwC said it oversees “all aspects” of the voting process on behalf of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, CNN reported.
It maintains sole custody of all votes, and is responsible for keeping the results secret. Once the ballots have been tabulated, two senior accountants memorize every winner — then prepare two briefcases with the envelopes used by the presenters.
The briefcases are brought to the ceremony via “separate, secret routes” and the two accountants stand backstage and hand the envelopes to the presenters before they walk onstage, PwC said.
PwC’s Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz were photographed holding the two briefcases earlier in the night.
“PwC’s role in the Oscars balloting process represents the firm’s lasting legacy of utmost accuracy and confidentiality,” Ruiz said in a statement before the 2015 ceremony, CNN reported.
A mystifyng breakdown in the final stage of the process led Dunaway to make the announcement that will be forever etched in Oscars lore.
She was in no mood to address the matter during the Governors Ball that immediately followed the awards.
“I’m not going to speak about it,” she told THR.