The company which compiles the Oscar results have "sincerely apologised" for the mix-up which led to ‘La La Land’ incorrectly being announced as winning Best Picture at Sunday’s (26.02.17) ceremony.
Accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) tabulates the results of the voting process and are in charge of handing the envelopes to presenters, and so have accepted responsibility for the gaffe which saw Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway handed the results of the Best Actress in a Leading Role award, which went to ‘La La Land’ star Emma Stone, leading to them announcing the musical had won the night’s big award, when in fact it should have gone to ‘Moonlight’.
The company said in a statement: "We sincerely apologise 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."
The company previously explained that, for security purposes, they have two sets of briefcases at the side of the stage at the ceremony, which each contain the evening’s results.
Brian Cullinan of PwC said: "From a security perspective, we double up everything.
"That’s why there’s two of us. We have two briefcases, that are identical, and we have two entire sets of winning envelopes. Martha [L. Ruiz] carries one of those briefcases, I carry the other..
"We go to the show separately with police escorts. I used to think it was for our security, it’s really for the briefcase [laughs].
"We take different routes to get there just because of the kinds of things that can happen in L.A. traffic. We want to make sure that no matter what happens, one of us gets there. We’ve never really had a problem with that."
Oscars accountants apologise for mix-up
