PwC issues apology after Oscars best picture envelope mistake

Accounting firm in charge of vote counting vows to investigate error that led to La La Land being awarded by mistake

PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accountancy firm that has overseen the counting of the Oscars ballots for 83 years, has apologised for the most spectacular blunder in the history of the starry ceremony – when the award for best film was mistakenly presented to La La Land instead of the actual winner Moonlight.

The company promised to investigate the error after Warren Beatty, who was presenting the best picture award with Faye Dunaway, ended up with the wrong envelope. “We sincerely apologise 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,” PwC said in a statement.

Attention will focus on a provision intended to make the system failsafe: there are duplicate envelopes of the complete set of results, held in the wings in case anything should go wrong with a presenter or an envelope. The key question will be whether the duplicate of the best actress award, which had just been announced, was handed to Beatty in the wings as he walked out to announce best picture …

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Guardian