Oscar Flub 2017: Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs Mortified By Best Picture Disaster [VIDEO]
Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, was horrified to see that Best Picture blunder.
Isaacs spoke with The New Yorker Monday about the epic mishap at the end of the Oscars, where La La Land was falsely awarded Best Picture instead of the real winner, Moonlight. She revealed that she truly didn't know what was happening while watching from the audience.
"Horror," she told The New Yorker, of her reaction to the flub. "I just thought, What? What? I looked out and I saw a member of [accounting firm] Pricewaterhouse coming on the stage, and I was, like, Oh, no, what-what's happening? What what WHAT? What could possibly . . . ? And then I just thought, Oh, my God, how does this happen? How. Does. This. Happen. And it was such a wonderful show."
PricewaterhouseCoopers ultimately took responsibility for the disaster. The two executives at the accounting firm are the only ones who know the winners before the announcement, and they give out the envelopes before each category is presented. The Best Actress envelope was given to La La Land star Emma Stone when she won the second to last category, but the other Best Actress envelope was given to Best Picture presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. Beatty was confused when he opened the envelope, then gave it to Dunaway who immediately announced La La Land as the winner without looking at the result more carefully.
As the La La Land producers began to give their speeches, stagehands rushed out to reveal that they hadn't in fact won. In reality, Best Picture went to Moonlight.
The Academy has since sent out a statement in response to this flub.
"We deeply regret the mistakes that were made during the presentation of the Best Picture category during last night's Oscar ceremony," the group said. "We apologize to the entire cast and crew of La La Land and Moonlight whose experience was profoundly altered by this error. We salute the tremendous grace they displayed under the circumstances. To all involved - including our presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, the filmmakers, and our fans watching worldwide - we apologize."
Isaacs has had a tumultuous reign as Academy President, having dealt with the backlash of #OscarsSoWhite over the past two years.