The worst mix-up in the history of the Academy Awards resulted from a disastrous collision of Hollywood, social media and an accounting firm.
A managing partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP mistakenly handed presenter Warren Beatty an envelope on Sunday night containing the name of best-actress winner Emma Stone, instead of the envelope with best-picture winner “Moonlight.” As a result, Mr. Beatty’s co-presenter, Faye Dunaway, announced “La La Land,” in which Ms. Stone starred, as best picture.
Just minutes before he gave Mr. Beatty the wrong envelope, Brian Cullinan, one of two PwC partners working backstage at the show, tweeted a glamorous photo of the actress. “Best Actress Emma Stone backstage! #PWC!” he posted, along with the photo, at 9:05 p.m. Pacific time.
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About three minutes later, Mr. Beatty and Ms. Dunaway walked on stage to announce the evening’s top prize.
Mr. Cullinan’s backstage Twitter activity wasn’t sanctioned by the Academy, according to a person familiar with the matter. He’d sought permission to post to social media during the show, but had been turned down, this person added, because his job was only to distribute and verify the envelopes containing the closely guarded names of winners.
Mr. Cullinan later deleted the tweet, apparently on Monday morning. The Wall Street Journal reviewed copies, including a version publicly accessible on Google’s servers.
Mr. Cullinan posted other photos on Twitter during the awards show that were also apparently deleted, said a person with knowledge of the matter.
The Academy is currently reviewing the entire backstage process and PwC’s role in it, according to another person familiar with the matter.
“This was our issue. PwC made the error, and we’re accountable,” said Tim Ryan, PwC’s U.S. chairman, in an interview with the Journal.
Mr. Ryan has spoken to Mr. Cullinan, who “doesn’t believe that a tweet caused the error,” he said. He added that Mr. Cullinan said he feels “horrible, absolutely horrible.”
It took about two minutes after Ms. Dunaway announced the wrong movie for Mr. Cullinan and Martha Ruiz, another PwC partner who works on the Oscars, to rush on stage with the correct envelope naming “Moonlight.” Two “La La Land” producers had already given their acceptance speeches and a third was beginning.
Mr. Cullinan and Ms. Ruiz had memorized the winners, so they knew a mistake had been made, and Ms. Ruiz double-checked a copy of the best-picture envelope to confirm that before they went on stage. Mr. Ryan, PwC’s U.S. chairman, said Monday that he would have liked the response to have been quicker, but in the heat and chaos of the moment, on a live TV broadcast, the PwC partners “reacted as quick as they could.”
Ms. Ruiz couldn’t be reached for comment.
The mistake was a black eye for PwC, which has handled Academy Award tabulations since 1935 and aggressively promotes its role, including the fact that Mr. Cullinan and Ms. Ruiz are the only people who know the winners in advance and personally handle security of the envelopes.
Mr. Ryan, who has spoken with the chief executive of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, wouldn’t say if Mr. Cullinan would face any penalty from PwC or if his firm’s relationship with the Academy has been damaged. Right now the firm’s focus is on ensuring the Academy and other parties know PwC is taking responsibility.
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