After the big shock, it was no surprise that the most talked about moment during the Academy Awards broadcast on Facebook was the moment when La La Land and then Moonlight won best picture.
The wild finish came when presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway at first read a card that appeared to name La La Land as the winner of the evening's final and biggest prize. But as stage managers scurried behind the scenes as acceptance speeches were going on, a correction was announced, and the producers and cast of Moonlight went up to receive the Oscar and give their speeches.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting firm responsible for tabulating the voting, took responsibility for the mix up in a statement.
“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,” the statement said.
“We appreciate the grace with which the nominees, the Academy, ABC, and Jimmy Kimmel handled the situation,” PwC said.
According to Facebook, the other parts of the awards show that stimulated the most public conversation were:
- Host Jimmy Kimmel's opening monologue
- Gael García Bernal's on stage remarks: “As a Mexican, as a Latin American, as a migrant worker, as a human being, I am against any form of wall that wants to separate us.”
- Jimmy Kimmel surprises tour bus fans, bringing them inside the ceremony to meet the stars.
- Mahershala Ali wins best supporting actor for Moonlight.
