89th Oscar Winners – MOONLIGHT Takes Home Best Picture

In one of the biggest shocks in Academy Awards history, the final award of the night, Best Picture, was mistakenly announced.

MOONLIGHT won best picture at the 89th Oscars after LA LA LAND was erroneously reported announced as the winner.

Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway read LA LA LAND right after Emma Stone won best actress for her role in the modern-day musical. After the cast took the stage, a producer for LA LA LAND corrected things and said, “[Actually] ‘Moonlight’ is the winner … this is not a joke.”

The LA Times exclusively spoke to best picture presenter Warren Beatty backstage after the history-making mistake that briefly awarded LA LA LAND the honor instead of rightful winner MOONLIGHT and the legendary director explained what happened onstage.

“I looked down at the card and thought, ‘This is very strange, because it says best actress.’ Maybe there was a misprint. I don’t know what happened. And that’s all I have to say on the subject.”  – Warren Beatty

Spotted backstage at the #Oscars: @briancullinan_ and @MarthaLTRuiz keep watch over the envelopes pic.twitter.com/FpYxR9oM9K

— PwC LLP (@PwC_LLP) February 27, 2017

According to the LA Times:

After the Oscars’ big best picture mix-up Sunday, Emma Stone said backstage that she was holding her lead actress card when “La La Land” was incorrectly announced as best picture.

So how could Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway have been looking at that very same card, as the actor explained to the audience?

Turns out that for each category, there are two cards waiting in the wings, one on each side, as explained in a 2016 Los Angeles Times story by Valli Herman:

“In an undisclosed location, the partners tabulate votes and stuff two sets of winning envelopes, partly as another security measure and also to aid the show’s flow. Stationed with their signature briefcases on opposite sides of the stage, either [PricewaterhouseCoopers partners, Brian] Cullinan or [Martha] Ruiz can dispense envelopes to presenters. At the end of the evening, each accountant will have given out about half of the envelopes.

Backstage Emma Stone told the press, “I’m an actor. I’ve always dreamt of this kind of thing, but again, not in a realistic context. And for that, I love MOONLIGHT. God, I love MOONLIGHT so much. I was so excited for MOONLIGHT. And of course, you know, it was an amazing thing to hear LA LA LAND. I think we all would have loved to win Best Picture, but we are so excited for MOONLIGHT. I think it’s one of the best films of all time. So I was pretty beside myself. I also was holding my Best Actress in a Leading Role card that entire time. So, whatever story ‑‑ I don’t mean to start stuff, but whatever story that was, I had that card. So I’m not sure what happened. And I really wanted to talk to you guys first. Congratulations MOONLIGHT. Hell, yeah.” She continued, “I think everyone’s in a state of confusion still. Excitement, but confusion. So there’s no real ‑‑ I don’t really have a gauge of the atmosphere quite yet. I need to, you know, check in. But I think everyone is just so excited, so excited for MOONLIGHT. It’s such an incredible film.”

Jordan Horowitz, Jimmy Kimmel and Warren Beatty on stage during the live ABC Telecast of The 89th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, February 26, 2017.

Presenter Warren Beatty onstage during The 89th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, February 26, 2017.

The cast of La La Land is mistakenly awarded the Oscar® for Best Picture from presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty during The 89th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, February 26, 2017.

Presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty onstage during The 89th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, February 26, 2017.

Host Jimmy Kimmel and presenter Warren Beatty explain the mix-up regarding the Oscar® for Best Picture during The 89th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, February 26, 2017.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
CASEY AFFLECK – Manchester by the Sea

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
MAHERSHALA ALI – Moonlight

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
EMMA STONE – La La Land

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
VIOLA DAVIS – Fences

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
ZOOTOPIA – Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Clark Spencer

CINEMATOGRAPHY
LA LA LAND – Linus Sandgren

COSTUME DESIGN
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
Colleen Atwood

DIRECTING
LA LA LAND – Damien Chazelle

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
O.J.: MADE IN AMERICA
Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
THE WHITE HELMETS
Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

FILM EDITING
HACKSAW RIDGE
John Gilbert

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
THE SALESMAN
Iran

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
SUICIDE SQUAD
Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
LA LA LAND
Justin Hurwitz

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
CITY OF STARS
from La La Land; Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

BEST PICTURE
MOONLIGHT
Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers

PRODUCTION DESIGN
LA LA LAND
Production Design: David Wasco; Set Decoration: Sandy Reynolds-Wasco

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
PIPER
Alan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
SING
Kristof Deák and Anna Udvardy

SOUND EDITING
ARRIVAL
Sylvain Bellemare

SOUND MIXING
HACKSAW RIDGE
Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace

VISUAL EFFECTS
THE JUNGLE BOOK
Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Dan Lemmon

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
MOONLIGHT
Screenplay by Barry Jenkins; Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
Written by Kenneth Lonergan

Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel at the Dolby Theatre, the show overall embodied the theme of inspiration. The ceremony was opened by Justin Timberlake who performed the Oscar-nominated song CAN’T STOP THE FEELING from Trolls.

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Contributed by Melissa Thompson and Michelle McCue