Shock and confusion cap 89th Oscars
It was a surprise that Moonlight beat the hotly-tipped La La Land for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The way it was announced was easily one of the biggest shocks to have happened in 89 years of the Academy Awards.
Moonlight, a drama about a gay black youth coming to terms with his sexuality in an impoverished Miami neighbourhood, received the Oscar for best picture this morning (Singapore time) after a stunning, unprecedented flub in which presenters erroneously announced the musical “La La Land” as the winner.
The cast and creative team for “La La Land” had already taken the stage to begin delivering acceptance speeches when one of the producers interrupted the proceedings to say that the award had been given to the wrong movie, and that “Moonlight” was the real victor.
Producer Jordan Horowitz announced there had been a mistake.
He said: "This is not a joke. Moonlight is best picture," and showed the camera the card that revealed the winner.
He then held up the envelope to the camera to prove it was true.
Veteran actor-direct Warren Beatty tried to explain that he and Faye Dunaway announced the wrong winner because the envelope they had been handed bore incorrectly the name of best actress winner, Emma Stone, and the movie title “La La Land.”
From the footage, it is clear that Beatty is not sure about the name on the card.
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Host Jimmy Kimmel took the incident in his stride, joking: “I knew I would screw this show up. I really did.”
Kimmel added: "Personally I blame Steve Harvey for this."
Moonlight's director Barry Jenkins said: "Very clearly even in my dreams this can't be true. But to hell with it because this is true. It's true, its not fake."
- WIRE SERVICES
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