It was a moment that would go down in Oscars history, for all the wrong reasons.
The movie “La La Land” won the Oscar for best picture — until it didn’t. Presenter Warren Beatty announced the musical, directed by New Jersey’s Damien Chazelle, as winner of the evening’s most coveted award Sunday night, until people up on stage noticed that the envelope containing the name of the winner read “Moonlight.”
Beatty, who had presented the final award alongside Faye Dunaway, apologized, saying that he had somehow confused the envelope meant for “La La Land” actress Emma Stone winning best actress for the one intended for best picture. It’s not yet clear how Beatty came into possession of the wrong envelope, especially since Emma Stone later said that she had her winning card the whole time.
Warren Beatty makes mistake, #Moonlight wins best picture. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/zRZlTTeD2l
— Variety (@Variety) February 27, 2017
The mistake was perhaps the largest one ever made in announcing the awards, one host Jimmy Kimmel compared to Steve Harvey’s flubbed announcement of the winner of Miss Universe in 2015.
“La La Land” producers, who had already begun to deliver their speeches, quickly ceded the stage to “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins, who had earlier won an Oscar for best adapted screenplay.
“This is not a joke, ‘Moonlight’ has won best picture,” said “La La Land” producer Jordan Horowitz, holding up the official winner’s card so all could see (after a careful closeup).
Watching the #Oscars producers slowly tell the #LaLaLand team they didn’t win Best Picture is WILD. Keep your eyes on the background pic.twitter.com/3TRUWZAMjH
— Jarett Wieselman (@JarettSays) February 27, 2017
Chazelle, 32, who grew up in Princeton, earlier became the youngest person to win the Oscar for best director. Near the start of the ceremony, Mahershala Ali became the first Muslim actor to win an Academy Award after he won best supporting actor for his role in “Moonlight.”
“Moonlight” bests “Hidden Figures,” “La La Land” (obviously), “Hacksaw Ridge,” “Manchester by the Sea,” “Lion,” “Hell or High Water,” “Arrival” and “Fences” to win the coveted award.
On Twitter, where media outlets scrambled to correct or nix their most recent tweets announcing the “La La Land” win, the reaction to the monumental mistake was swift (and yes, Steve Harvey was a running theme).
[<a href=”//storify.com/NJentertainment/oscar-s-epic-best-picture-mistake” target=”_blank”>View the story “Oscar’s epic best picture mistake ” on Storify</a>]<h1>Oscar’s epic best picture mistake </h1><h2>’La La Land’ was announced as the winner but ‘Moonlight’ was the real winner</h2><p>Storified by <a HACKED_LINKs://storify.com/NJentertainment”>NJ.com</a>· Mon, Feb 27 2017 05:28:46 </p><div>Warren Beatty It’s On You Now! #Oscars https://t.co/y9vIUS0Ic9Chris Decker</div><div>TWIST! #Oscars you were a wild ride. #LaLaLandMovie –> #MoonlightMovie. https://t.co/pbtjsjVqU5Shanee Ben-Zur</div><div>Then how come their description on tv was saying #LaLaLand…??? Aren’t they supposed to match??? #Oscars #Oscars2017 https://t.co/4rNwDbVxOQValerie</div><div>alright, so who’s springin for Warren Beatty & Faye Dunaway’s new glasses since they read the wrong title off the card #Oscars https://t.co/UHyeJlmH9mSteve Richards</div><div>Steve Harvey right now. #Oscars https://t.co/og29B61GVvAndrew Waruszewski</div><div>"They’re going to give Warren Beatty the wrong envelope. Moonlight actually wins." #Oscars https://t.co/uC2SREqvIIhughesreviews</div><div>Warren Beatty pulling A Steve Harvey [?] #Oscars https://t.co/Wmtx4l2zFWMyriam</div><div>Could someone ask to #pricewaterhousecoopers to audit the next presidential election? Or Warren Beatty perhaps #WhatLaLaHappened #Oscars https://t.co/QkNkCl6FB6Larry Capija</div><div>Live look at the stage producer who handed Warren Beatty the wrong envelope #oscars https://t.co/FJ8ErBMtPiNathaniel Haas</div><div>Warren Beatty knew he wasn’t right bahahaha #Oscars https://t.co/BDInW7syl0Brittany [?] </div><div>First John Travolta in ’14 with "Adele Dazeem", now Warren Beatty in ’17. Damn, dudes. You had ONE job. #Oscars https://t.co/V07O9GcDilEddie N</div><div>Warren Beatty was like… #Oscars https://t.co/rLb2PL2n7sMessiest Bessie</div><div>I hate you Warren Beatty #LosOscarEnLatina #Oscars https://t.co/P5RTb4V0r1Mapy</div><div>No more alcohol for you, Warren Beatty #Oscars https://t.co/XQVwbXOjvdRay Stings</div> Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook.
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