The 89th Annual Academy Awards ended on a confusing note, to say the least, after a mistake in the named winner of Best Picture.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting firm that tallies the Oscars voting, told ABC News in a statement that presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty were given the wrong envelope when they went on stage to announce the winner of the coveted best picture award, ABC News reports.
Beatty made a similar claim shortly after he and Dunaway mistakenly named "La La Land" the best picture winner, explaining to the audience that the card he read stated, "Emma Stone, 'La La Land."
Shortly beforehand, Stone picked up the best actress trophy for her role in "La La Land." "Moonlight" actually won best picture.
"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," read the 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. We appreciate the grace with which the nominees, the Academy, ABC and [host] Jimmy Kimmel handled the situation."
Actor Warren Beatty was on stage presenting the award with actress Faye Dunaway and after pausing to read the winner, he looked to Dunaway. She then announced that the award went to musical "La La Land."
The filmmakers were in the middle of giving out thank yous when they were interrupted by "La La Land" producer Jordan Horowitz.
It turns out the winner of the Best Picture Oscar was "Moonlight."
"I'm sorry ... There's a mistake. 'Moonlight' -- you guys won Best Picture," Horowitz said. "This is not a joke. 'Moonlight' has won Best Picture."
Horowitz showed the shocked audience the winner card for proof.
"This is very unfortunate," host Jimmy Kimmel said, before joking. "Personally, I blame Steve Harvey for this," he joked.
Beatty said he paused when reading not as a joke, but because when he opened the envelope, it had Emma Stone's name and "La La Land," "which is why I took such a long look at Faye, and at you," Beatty said. "I wasn't trying to be funny."
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