Oscars 2017 updates: ‘Moonlight’ named best picture after Warren Beatty gets wrong envelope Feb. 27, 2017, 5:47 a.m. In a stunning turn, « Moonlight » won the best picture Oscar after « La La Land » was incorrectly named…
In a stunning turn, « Moonlight » won the best picture Oscar after « La La Land » was incorrectly named. The « La La Land » team were in the process of giving thanks when it was announced that the wrong film had been read and that « Moonlight » was the real winner.
Emma Stone, Casey Affleck, Mahershala Ali and Viola Davis won acting awards. Director Barry Jenkins and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney won the adapted screenplay award for « Moonlight » and Kenneth Lonnergan won for his original script, « Manchester by the Sea. »
Of all the things we expected from the Oscars this year, making us feel better was not one of them.
The last few major awards shows, after all, were not only about handing out trophies but a chance for honorees and presenters to voice their white-hot anger toward President Trump ’s travel ban, his plan for a wall along the border with Mexico, and a divisive America they no longer recognized.
Sunday, however, the academy appeared to take a step back and counterbalance the political tension of the last few months by refocusing on what Hollywood does best — entertain.
Some of the levity was delivered via intentional stunts, such as candy and snacks dropping out of the ceiling attached to parachutes, while other moments — presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway naming “La La Land” the winner for best picture when it was in fact “Moonlight” — were not.
In one of the top moments of the evening before the show’s surprise ending, host Jimmy Kimmel ushered a group of stunned tourists who’d just disembarked from a Starline bus on Hollywood Boulevard into the Dolby Theatre mid-ceremony. Dressed in cargo shorts, baseball hats and carrying selfie sticks, they were introduced to gown- and tux-clad luminaries such as Nicole Kidman, Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep.
“Who’s your favorite actor?” Kimmel asked one of the dazed tourists.
“That man right there,” said the woman, pointing at Washington. The “Fences” star got up and hugged her before performing a mock wedding ceremony for her and her fiancé.
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As the « La La Land » cast was taking the stage to celebrate, a stagehand in the wings said, « Oh … Oh my god, he got the wrong envelope. » They walked back and forth repeating it.
Stagehands, actors, production crew and journalists were stunned. Oscars producer Michael De Luca was peering into his monitor, trying to figure it out. Champagne glasses sat on the table next to him. They had been poured moments earlier to celebrate a good show.
The academy doesn’t know what went wrong. Stage manager Gary Natoli came running past just now saying, « Warren is holding on to the envelope. He will not release it. »
SEE PHOTOS FROM INSIDE THE SHOW >>
When host Jimmy Kimmel returned from off stage, De Luca told the show host, « Thanks for covering, man. » And Kimmel responded, « Yeah, but no one is going to remember that now. I don’t know what happened. We will analyze every bit of it. »
Meanwhile John Legend mused, « One wishes it was the right card. One wishes. »
SEE ALL OUR PHOTOS FROM THE OSCARS RED CARPET >>
If you thought Steve Harvey would stay quiet about the best picture mix-up at Sunday’s Oscars ceremony, you don’t know Steve Harvey. He sent out an early-morning tweet mock-innocently asking of the Oscars, « What I miss? »
And never one to miss a great promo, he’s promising to share his response to the Oscars fiasco with listeners who tune into his radio show Monday at 8 a.m. EST. Because, as he tweeted about the flub that mistakenly gave « La La Land » the prize over true winner « Moonlight, « You know I have something to say. »
The 12th Academy Awards made history for a number of reasons.
The ceremony honored the films of 1939, a year considered by many to have produced some of the greatest movies of all time. Among the nominated works:
Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an acting award, for her role in “Gone with the Wind.” And Judy Garland was officially introduced to her Hollywood peers when she won the academy’s Juvenile Award for « The Wizard of Oz. »
It was also the last Oscars ceremony for which the names of winners were released to the press, or anyone for that matter, before the onstage announcement.
Why did they turn to a secret system?
You have the Los Angeles Times to thank for that. The academy’s official history lays blame on The Times for breaking an embargo and publishing the winners in the paper’s evening edition before the ceremony was underway. Think of it as the era’s equivalent of a tweet that scooped everyone else.
As the academy’s website says, the premature publication took place « much to the Academy’s dismay » and made the winners list « readily available to guests arriving for the event. »
Not much suspense there. And this is an industry that knows not to give away an ending.
The next year, the top-secret winners envelopes — like the one that went awry at this year’s Oscars — were put into action. The Times’ report on the new system (see the clip here) pronounced it pretentious.
« No vestige of an authoritative pre-release was vouchsafed while the roll call of honorees went on until the midnight hour, » the paper said.
The details about how « La La Land » won, then lost, the best picture award to « Moonlight, » are still being sorted. But the consensus is that it started when presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were handed the wrong envelope.
What do you say to someone who just won the Oscar you thought was yours?
That improbable scene played out just before midnight at the Governors Ball, where « La La Land » producer Jordan Horowitz, « Moonlight » director Barry Jenkins and « Moonlight » producer Jeremy Kleiner came together for the first time after their awkward stage moment several hours before.
« I feel so out-of-body right now, » Horowitz said.
Jenkins took out his phone and showed Horowitz a message pertaining to the envelope mix-up that led to all the confusion.
Then he snapped a selfie with Horowitz, the two men smiling. A genuine feeling of affection was apparent between them after all that had happened — two movies, a juggernaut and an upstart, forever linked in Oscar history.
Jenkins shook his head in disbelief at the craziness of the evening, then gave a smile and a thank you to some well-wishers.
Kleiner, who had been talking to some people from his team nearby, turned to the pair and greeted them.
SEE PHOTOS OF THE BOTCHED ANNOUNCEMENT >>
« I wish you had your moment, » Horowitz said to the « Moonlight » producer, who barely managed a thank you in the Dolby Theatre confusion.
Kleiner then gave Horowitz a hug, which they held for a moment, the former offering Horowitz some encouragement in his ear.
« I love ‘La La’ and I love our film, » Kleiner told The Times a moment later. « Our film is about empathy and breaking barriers. Maybe the symbolism of that is a rebuke to what’s been happening in our country. »
Did tonight’s circumstances give him the same feeling as winning the traditional way? « It can’t, » he said with a shrug. « How can it? »
A few feet away, Horowitz continued to process the events. « I got to speak and I got to thank my wife. » he said, sounding as much like he was reassuring himself as anyone else. « I’d like to watch it and see what happened. I still don’t know if I can watch it, » he added ruefully.
He paused and took a deep breath.
« It’s an award. It’s just an award, » he said.
This year’s Governors Ball is blanketed almost entirely in white with just a few pops of red and gold — mostly from the 10,000 ranunculus, double tulips and orchids supplied by celebrity florist Mark Held.
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PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting firm responsible for the tabulation of the Oscar ballots and the envelopes announcing the winners, released a statement early Monday morning after a shocking mistake resulted in « La La Land » wrongly being announced as 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. 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. »
A 2016 Los Angeles Times story explained that a set of envelopes containing the names of Oscar winners are kept on either side of the stage so that PricewaterhouseCoopers partners Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz can dispense them to presenters from whichever side they enter.
Meanwhile, at the Governors Ball…
No one was more stunned by the now infamous reversal of fortune at this year’s Oscars ceremony than « Moonlight’s » stars. They were stunned to hear that their film, not season-long awards juggernaut « La La Land, » was the best picture winner after all.
Jharrel Jerome, who plays teenage Kevin opposite Ashton Sanders as Chiron froze in his seat before running onstage to join his cast and crew mates in the « it’s no joke, you won » chaos.
« I was right next to Ashton and we were holding each other real tight, » Jerome said at the Governors Ball, where director Barry Jenkins and best supporting actor winner Mahershala Ali both made their way to « La La Land » producer Jordan Horowitz to thank him for his gracious onstage
moment.
« They said ‘La La Land’ — and I respected every film tonight that got a nomination, so any win was a win to us. But it was a little crushing, » Jerome admitted.
He said he was as shocked as everyone else when Horowitz stepped up to the microphone and announced there had been a mistake.
« At first I thought he was just being nice, » Jerome said. When it was confirmed that « Moonlight » had won, « Steve Harvey popped up in my head, » he laughed.
« I was stuck in my chair. I just couldn’t move because my nerves locked up. Everything that I’d dreamed of happened in that moment. It was such an overwhelming feeling. »
« I got on the stage and lifted up Alex [Hibbert], and I didn’t stop crying for 20 minutes. He’s 12 and Jaden [Piner]is 13, » he added of the film’s youngest stars, who spent part of the Oscars afterparty scrolling through their social media feeds as adults clinked champagne glasses and schmoozed.
« We have 12- and 13-year-olds who are in the film that just won best picture. And it was really all of our first film, » Jerome smiled.
