oscars 2017

The Accountants Involved With the Oscars Best Picture Snafu Have Been Booted From Future Ceremonies

Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images

In the latest development involving the shocking Oscars mix-up in which La La Land was erroneously named Best Picture before it was revealed as a mistake and Moonlight was crowned the real winner, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has announced that the two accountants responsible for the snafu will not return to oversee a future ceremony. PricewaterhouseCoopers accountants Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz were responsible for overseeing all of the winners’ envelopes during Sunday’s Oscars, but Cullinan, who was to hand the Best Picture envelope to presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, got distracted and handed them the wrong envelope, which contained the name of already-announced winner Emma Stone for her movie La La Land. Cullinan had tweeted a photo of Emma Stone backstage minutes before the mix-up, and Boone Isaacs says that it was Cullinan’s social-media distraction that contributed to the now-infamous flub. Don’t tweet and handle envelopes, folks!

Accountants Involved in Oscars Best Picture Snafu Booted