Jordan Horowitz knew something was wrong the moment he saw people in headsets scurrying across the Oscars stage.
Only a minute earlier Faye Dunaway had said the words that Mr. Horowitz had longed to hear — “La La Land” — as she announced the winner for the 2017 Academy Award
for best picture. Mr. Horowitz, a producer on the film, and colleagues
and cast members raced to the stage. Mr. Horowitz spoke first — “Thank
you to the academy,” he began — but his excitement quickly dissipated,
as he recalled the shocking end to the night in an interview with The
New York Times after the awards.
“I’m
holding the envelope and the award, and I had just given my speech, and
there are people on the stage with headsets, and I thought, ‘That
doesn’t seem right,’” Mr. Horowitz said at the Governors Ball.
“They
asked to see my envelope, which I haven’t opened. Clearly something was
wrong. They open my envelope, and it says ‘Emma Stone, La La Land.’ So
clearly something is not right. The guys in headsets were going around
with urgency looking for the other envelope — it just kind of appeared,”
he said. “One of the guys opens it, and it says ‘Moonlight,’ and I took
it onstage and went to the microphone and said what I said.”
What Mr. Horowitz said — “There’s a mistake. ‘Moonlight,’ you guys won best picture” — was one of the most surprising reversals in Oscar history,
with apparent human error combining with live television to powerful,
jaw-dropping effect. It was also a painful reminder, on the most
celebratory night of the year for the film industry, that no system of
voting is perfect, and it warped and dampened the euphoria of film
executives and artists who had spent years working on the two movies.
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And
for the academy, which had been criticized last year for
#OscarsSoWhite, there might have been something of a missed moment:
Instead of a proper celebration of “Moonlight,” with its all-black cast
and touching personal narrative, there was a televised scene of confusion, disbelief and astonishment.
PricewaterhouseCoopers,
the accounting firm that oversaw the academy voting and handled the
award envelopes, issued a statement on Monday morning that apologized to
the two movies; the award category presenters, Ms. Dunaway and Warren
Beatty; and to 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,” the statement continued.
“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,” a
reference to the network and the host of the Oscars ceremony.
Many
details remained unclear on Monday morning, including how the envelopes
were handled backstage before Mr. Beatty and Ms. Dunaway came out and
why the error was not corrected more swiftly. Three “La La Land”
producers had given acceptance speeches before the mistake was
announced.
For
the filmmakers and actors in “Moonlight,” those final seven minutes of
the Oscars ceremony — from Ms. Dunaway’s announcement of “La La Land” to
the discovery that “Moonlight” had won to the speeches by its
producers, Mr. Beatty and Mr. Kimmel — were no less stunning.
“The
last 20 minutes of my life have been insane,” Barry Jenkins, the
director of “Moonlight,” told reporters backstage after the awards. “I
don’t think my life could be changed any more dramatically than the last
20 or 30 minutes.”
André
Holland, an actor in “Moonlight” who was attending the Oscars, said in
an interview that he was sitting in the back of the hall with others
from the film when he heard Mr. Horowitz, the “La La Land” producer, say
from the stage, “There’s a mistake — ‘Moonlight,’ you guys won best
picture.”
“We
all looked at each other and were like, ‘Is this a joke?’” said Mr.
Holland, who plays the character Kevin in the final third of the film.
“We waited and kept watching — we didn’t want to celebrate until we knew
if it was a joke and whether this was really happening. It was
surreal.”
Less than two minutes later, Mr. Holland was on stage with his “Moonlight” family.
“I
still couldn’t believe we were up there,” said Mr. Holland, speaking by
telephone to The Times a half-hour after the ceremony. “It was a ton of
people on stage, and I don’t think anyone could believe it.”
Afterward,
Mahershala Ali, who won best supporting actor for “Moonlight,” said
backstage that he had been thrown by the turn of events.
“I just didn’t want to go up there and take anything from somebody, you know?” he said.
Mr.
Jenkins told Entertainment Tonight that he “could see it in Jordan’s
face, that he was speaking the truth,” referring to Mr. Horowitz.
A supplies cast
ReplyDeleteJust like never.
ReplyDeleteHolland's dream was awesome
ReplyDeleteLala land belongs to Jordan
ReplyDeleteLess than two minutes later, Mr. Holland was on stage with his “Moonlight” family.
ReplyDeleteMoonlight should be first
ReplyDeleteHow can the presenter be given a wrong envelope???
ReplyDeleteSometimes it can be possible
Delete