Oscars 2013 Behind the Scenes: Bathroom Pipe Bursts and Floods Academy Awards Lobby
As viewers watched awards being passed out at the 85th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday, many were unaware of the fact that a pipe burst in the women's bathroom only a little while earlier.
Thirty minutes before the Oscars began a pipe burst in the Dolby Theatre as the mother of one of the Oscar-nominees for documentary shorts flushed the toilet. Water flooded the theatre's lobby just as the night's nominees, presenters and industry heads entered for the ceremony.
"The poor woman came out looking like a scene from 'Carrie.' She was drenched," Lucy Walker, a nominee from last year, told The Wrap about the mother of Kief Davidson, who caused the incident.
Organizers used large blue vacuums to suck the water as the puddle seeped in the lobby carpet.
Davidson is director of the nominated documentary short Open Heart. Walker was a 2012 Oscar nominee in the same category.
The Academy provided a Backstage Pass link where viewers would have access to live feeds from over a dozen exclusive cameras placed on the red carpet and throughout the theatre. The special cameras included the Thank You Cam - where winners had an additional opportunity to thank their supporters - the Control Room Cam, the Backstage Cam that recorded all behind-the-scenes footage and the Press Room Cam. The last camera featured Oscar winners interacting with the media moments after they leave the stage with their awards.
Viewers were able to witness Jennifer Lawrence talk to the press backstage about her fall as she made her way to the podium to accept the Oscar for Best Actress.
When asked what happened by a member of the press, Lawrence said backstage, "What do you mean, what happened? Look at my dress. I tried to walk up stairs in this dress. That's what happened. I think I just stepped on the fabric and they waxed the stairs."
