The cast and creative team behind La La Land had taken the stage and begun giving their acceptance speeches when the error came to light.
Several moments of confusion ensued before host Jimmy Kimmel appeared and confirmed: “This is very unfortunate what happened. Personally, I blame Steve Harvey for this. … Warren, what did you do?”
African-American Steve Harvey went into the books in December 2015 when he hosted the annual Miss Universe pageant. He mistakenly announced Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutiérrez, as Miss Universe 2015. The Family Feud host then came back on stage and corrected the error, giving the crown to the real winner, Miss Philippines, Pia Wurtzbach, as stunned contestants and audiences looked on.
Anyway, Oscars did a Steve Harvey correction.
The La La Land stars, clearly embarrassed, handed over the statuettes and vacated the stage.
“I wanted to tell you what happened. I opened the envelope and it said, ‘Emma Stone, La La Land.’ That’s why I took such a long look at Faye and at you. I wasn’t trying to be funny,” Beatty said, stepping up to the microphone and insisting he had been given Stone’s Best Actress envelope instead of the Best Picture notice.
Holding up another card, he read, “This is Moonlight, the Best Picture.”
Writer-director Barry Jenkins, who earlier won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, then accepted the night’s biggest award.
“Very clearly, even in my dreams, this could not be true. But to hell with dreams. I’m done with it because this is true,” Jenkins said. “Oh, my goodness!”
The film also earned the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Mahershala Ali.
Before the more than 3-hour-long ceremony closed, Jenkins praised the La La Land family he had gotten to know on the awards circuit this season.
Despite the night’s awkward ending, La La Land still earned numerous accolades with the 32-year-old man who helmed it, Damien Chazelle, becoming the youngest filmmaker in history to win the Best Director Oscar.
BEST PICTURE
Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
WINNER: Moonlight
ACTRESS
Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Ruth Negga, Loving
Natalie Portman, Jackie
WINNER: Emma Stone, La La Land
Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins
ACTOR
WINNER: Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington, Fences
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
WINNER: Viola Davis, Fences
Naomie Harris, Moonlight
Nicole Kidman, Lion
Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea
SUPPORTING ACTOR
WINNER: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea
Dev Patel, Lion
Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals
WINNER: Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Denis Villeneuve, Arrival
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
Arrival
Fences
Hidden Figures
Lion
WINNER: Moonlight
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
Hell or High Water
La La Land
The Lobster
WINNER: Manchester by the Sea
20th Century Women
Audition (The Fools Who Dream) from La La Land
Can’t Stop the Feeling! from Trolls
WINNER: City of Stars from La La Land
The Empty Chair from Jim: The James Foley Story
How Far I’ll Go from Moana
Jackie
WINNER: La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Passengers
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Arrival
WINNER: La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Silence
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
Ennemis Intérieurs
La Femme et le TGV
Silent Nights
WINNER: Sing
Timecode
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Extremis
4.1 Miles
Joe’s Violin
Watani: My Homeland
WINNER: The White Helmets
FILM EDITING
Arrival
WINNER: Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
La La Land
Moonlight
VISUAL EFFECTS
Deepwater Horizon
Doctor Strange
WINNER: The Jungle Book
Kubo and the Two Strings
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Arrival
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Hail, Caesar!
WINNER: La La Land
Passengers
ANIMATED FEATURE
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
My Life as a Zucchini
The Red Turtle
WINNER: Zootopia
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
Blind Vaysha
Borrowed Time
Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Pearl
WINNER: Piper
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Land of Mine, Denmark
A Man Called Ove, Sweden
WINNER: The Salesman, Iran
Tanna, Australia
Toni Erdmann, Germany
Arrival
WINNER: Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
SOUND EDITING
WINNER: Arrival
Deepwater Horizon
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Sully
DOCUMENTARY
Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
WINNER: O.J.: Made in America
13th
COSTUME DESIGN
Allied
WINNER: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Florence Foster Jenkins
Jackie
La La Land
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
WINNER: Suicide Squad
