In an absolutely astounding conclusion to the 89th Academy Awards, presenter Faye Dunaway announced the wrong winner for Best Picture.
Dunaway announced odds-on favorite “La La Land” as this year’s victor.
As the “La La Land” team was giving its speech, a commotion emerged on stage. It was revealed that “Moonlight,” not “La La Land,” was the winner.
Amid the confusion, co-presenter Beatty explained that he had mistakenly received a second envelope for Best Actress, which featured “Emma Stone – La La Land” as the winner. Beatty showed the card to Dunaway, who focused on the “La La Land” portion of the card and announced the film as the winner for Best Picture.
To his credit, Beatty did look visibly confused upon first opening the card. And while Dunaway was perhaps hasty in reading out “La La Land,” she had no reason to assume they had been given the wrong card entirely.
Time stood still as the situation unfolded, but when all was said and done, “Moonlight” was crowned the Best Picture of 2016.
