The 2017 Oscars took a turn for the surreal when “La La Land” was announced as the greatest image winner just moments before it was revealed that there had been a mix-up, and the honor belonged to “Moonlight.”
Probably no one was more shocked than the stars of the two films themselves.
Afterward, “La La Land” star Emma Stone and “Moonlight”‘s Mahershala Ali and director Barry Jenkins spoke to reporters backstage about the scenario.
“The folks from ‘La La Land’ have been so gracious. I cannot imagine getting in their position and having to do that,” Jenkins, who also won ideal original screenplay, mentioned. “I wasn’t speechless simply because we won. I was speechless since it was so gracious of them to do that.”
Throughout the final moments of the Academy Awards, the men and women behind “La La Land” were on stage accepting the award when all of a sudden, producer Jordan Horowitz announced that there had been a mistake. “I’m afraid they read the incorrect factor,” he told the crowd, revealing that “Moonlight” was in fact the winner.
“I f***ing like ‘Moonlight.’ God, I like ‘Moonlight’ so a great deal. I am so excited for ‘Moonlight,’ and of course, it was an amazing point to hear ‘La La Land.’ I assume we all would’ve loved to win ideal image, but we are so excited for ‘Moonlight,'” Stone told reporters. “I think it really is 1 of the finest films of all time, so I was quite beside myself.”
Stone also seemed skeptical of presenter Warren Beatty’s explanation that he’d been provided what seemed to be a duplicate of her very best actress card. Stone mentioned that the entire time, she’d been holding the card. A representative for PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting firm that handles Oscars voting, told ABC News in 2016 that they make two of every card, although the Academy has not but issued a statement about the incident.
“I don’t mean to start off stuff but whatever story that was, I had that card, so I’m not sure what occurred,” Stone said.
“Moonlight” actor Ali stated that the moment was bittersweet for him. Initially, he had been excited for the “La La Land” team, and like Jenkins, he felt terrible about what happened.
“I just didn’t want to go up there and take something from a person,” he mentioned. “It’s very challenging to really feel joy in a moment like that.”
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