Talk about fake news. The 2017 Oscars, so busy minding the nation's politics, orchestrated one of the biggest blunders in live television history when "La La Land" was mistakenly announced as the Best Picture instead of "Moonlight."
The amazing reversal of fortune left "La La Land" producers in the middle of their acceptance speeches when the actual winner of the Academy Awards biggest prize was finally figured out.
The mistake brought memories of Steve Harvey's live television blunder in December 2015 when he mistakenly announced Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez the winner of the Miss Universe pageant instead of the actual winner Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, noted CNN.
Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel quipped about Harvey onstage while the "Moonlight" producers were being called on stage and Academy Awards taken out of hands of "La La Land" showrunners.
"Guys. This is very unfortunate, what happened. Personally, I blame Steve Harvey for this," said Kimmel, according to "Entertainment Tonight."
According to the Washington Post, co-presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway went onstage with the envelope for best actress, won by "La La Land" actress Emma Stone, leading to the duo to announce the movie as best picture.
USA Today reported that after "La La Land" was announced was the winner an accountant from PriceWaterhouseCoopers backstage said "He (Beatty) took the wrong envelope" before going onstage.
A stagehand said offstage, with her hands on her head, "Oh, my God. 'Moonlight' won."
PriceWaterhouseCoopers took the blame in a statement after the show, according to Deadline.com.
"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," said statement.
"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."
Here's the complete list of winners, according to the Washington Post:
Best picture: "Moonlight"
Best actress in a leading role: Emma Stone, "La La Land"
Best actor in a leading role: Casey Affleck, "Manchester by the Sea"
Best director: Damien Chazelle, "La La Land"
Actress in a supporting role: Viola Davis, "Fences"
Actor in a supporting role: Mahershala Ali, "Moonlight"
Best documentary: "O.J.: Made in America"
Best foreign language film: "The Salesman"
Best animated feature film: "Zootopia"
Best adapted screenplay: "Moonlight," Barry Jenkins and Tarell McCraney
Best original screenplay: "Manchester by the Sea," Kenneth Lonergan
Best original song: "City of Stars," "La La Land"
Best original score: "La La Land," Justin Hurwitz
Best cinematography: "La La Land," Linus Sandgren
Best production design: "La La Land," David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
Best visual effects: "The Jungle Book," Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Dan Lemmon
Best costume design: "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," Colleen Atwood
Best makeup and hair styling: "Suicide Squad," Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson
Best animated short film: "Piper"
Best live action short film: "Sing (Mindenki)"
Best documentary short subject: "The White Helmets"
Best film editing: "Hacksaw Ridge," John Gilbert
Best sound editing: "Arrival," Sylvain Bellemare
Best sound mixing: "Hacksaw Ridge," Kevin O'Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace
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