Moments after the 2017 Academy Awards ended, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the auditing firm who has been in charge of the tabulating, released an official statement with regards to the mix up.
“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. 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.”
This statement comes after of what seemed to be a confusion on stage with the presenters on awarding the Best Picture category. Both “La La Land” and “Moonlight” were nominated and presenter Warren Beatty went back onstage to tell his side of the mistake and told the audience it was not rehearsed. “Hello, I wanted to tell you what happened. I opened the envelop, and it said, Emma Stone, La La Land, that’s why I took such a long look at Faye [Dunaway], and at you, I wasn’t trying to be funny,” explained the veteran actor.
Miss Universe 2016 Pia Alonzo-Wurtzbach had a similar experience when host, Steve Harvey, made the same error in the prestigious pageant. Wurtzbach was quick to react through her social media account by posting her Creamsilk commercial saying, “And if it can happen to me, it can happen to anybody.” referring to her experience. Harvey made the grievous mistake after initially crowning Ariadna Gutierrez of Colombia. Harvey has also made light of the gaffe throughout the recently concluded Miss Universe where Miss France won.