Major Oscars Gaffe Leaves the Crowd Dumbfounded When the Wrong Winner Is Declared for Best Picture

The 89th Academy Awards will likely be remembered not for the night's big winners, but for a massive mistake, after presenter Faye Dunaway awarded "La La Land" the best picture Oscar that should have gone to "Moonlight" instead.




But it wasn't her fault.




The official accountant of the Oscars, Price Waterhouse Coopers, gave her the wrong envelope.




“We sincerely apologize to 'Moonlight,' 'La La Land,' Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for Best Picture,” the firm said in a statement. “The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and when discovered, was immediately corrected. We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred.”




Here's how it went down.




After some odd hemming and hawing, Beatty and Dunaway said "La La Land" had won best picture. The "La La Land" cast rushed the stage and started their acceptance speeches. But a couple of minutes into the happy scene, while they were all still onstage hugging one another and thanking family and friends, producer Jordan Horowitz stopped short and announced suddenly that "Moonlight" had in fact won.




He then held up the card that proved "Moonlight" was the winner in the best picture category. As the "Moonlight" cast and crew then confusedly took the stage, chaos ensued.




Beatty, who had presented the award with Dunaway, took responsibility for the gaffe, explaining that he and Dunaway had been given a card with the winner for best actress -- Emma Stone for "La La Land" -- and that Dunaway had then mistakenly read that as the winning film.




"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," Beatty told the crowd amid the confusion on stage. "I wasn't trying to be funny."




Host Jimmy Kimmel took the microphone and tried to lighten the mood.



"I knew I would screw this up," he joked.