Warren Beatty announced La La Land as Best Picture at the 2017 Oscars because he and Faye Dunaway had been given the wrong category envelope, according to PwC’s statement published by the Academy. The official winner was Moonlight; Emma Stone had won the lead-actress award for La La Land.
What happened at the 2017 Oscars?
At the 89th Academy Awards on February 26, 2017, Beatty and Dunaway presented the Best Picture award. They announced La La Land as the winner. After the error was recognized, the announcement was corrected: Moonlight was the Best Picture winner. The ceremony, held at the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center, honored films released in 2016. The Academy’s official 2017 results list both Moonlight for Best Picture and Emma Stone, for La La Land, for Actress in a Leading Role.
Why did Beatty announce the wrong film?
PwC, the accounting firm responsible for the Oscar results process, said the presenters had mistakenly received an envelope for the wrong category. The statement, published on the Academy’s website on February 27, 2017, said: “The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and when discovered, was immediately corrected.” PwC’s statement identifies an envelope mix-up as the reason the wrong film was announced.
The category confusion is reflected in the official results: Emma Stone had just won Actress in a Leading Role for La La Land, while Best Picture went to Moonlight. The statement does not specify the exact backstage handoff or identify an individual operational mistake.
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What is known—and what the initial statement leaves unclear
- Confirmed: PwC said Beatty and Dunaway were mistakenly given the wrong category envelope.
- Confirmed: PwC said the error was corrected when it was discovered, and the Academy’s record lists Moonlight as Best Picture.
- Unspecified in the initial account: how the wrong envelope was handed over, who was responsible for that particular handoff, and how the error was not caught before the announcement.
PwC also said it was investigating how the mistake happened and expressed regret. Its initial public statement did not provide a detailed account of the full operational cause.
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