On February 26th, 2017, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences held the 89th annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The Oscars, widely considered the most distinguished ceremony of the awards season, honors members of the Academy for their accomplishments in cinema throughout the preceding year. While the Academy faced opposition leading up to awards season for the lack of equal representation among its nominees, resulting in A-listers such as Will and Jada Smith abstaining from attending the ceremony, the 2017 Oscars will be remembered instead for the grand finale. The event traditionally ends with what is considered to be the most important award of the night: Best Picture. This award immediately follows the presentation of the award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, which went to Emma Stone for her role in La La Land. Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty presented the award in honor of the 50th anniversary of their classic film, Bonnie & Clyde. The nominees for the award included titles such as Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge, Hidden Figures, Fences, Hell or High Water, Lion, Manchester by the Sea, La La Land, and Moonlight. As Beatty opened the card, his elongated pause drew laughter from the crowd. As he scrutinized the card, Dunaway believed he was creating suspense fitting for the significance of the award. Beatty revealed later that it was because of his confusion over what the card read. Still perplexed, he handed the card to Dunaway, who read out La La Land. The custom celebrations ensued: the cast and crew of La La Land stood, hug, congratulated each other, and found their ways onstage while the producers made their speeches. As the speeches continued, many audience members noted a commotion behind the producers. La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz explained in an interview with NPR how “A stage manager kind of came onto the stage, and it was clear something was going on. And at a certain point, he came up to me and took the envelope I’d been given. And when he opened it, it said ‘Emma Stone, La La Land.’” At that moment, Horowitz describes the scramble to find the right card. Once it was located and opened, Horowitz took it upon himself to announce the real winner– Moonlight. He received praise later for his direct confrontation of the issue at hand, as he immediately cut across the speeches to address the Moonlight cast and crew. “The spotlight needed to be on them and needs to continue to be on them,” Horowitz said of the praise, “…to be able to right the wrong and put the spotlight on their – on their beautiful film – you know, I was – I was grateful that I got to do that.” Moonlight producer Barry Jenkins had a similar reaction to the initial result, saying of La La Land: “I think all the movies that were nominated were worthy so I took the result, I applauded like everyone else.” However, once the award was rightfully given, he described how he “really wanted this result ‘cause a bajillion people are watching. And all you people out there who feel like there’s no mirror for you, that your life is not reflected, the Academy has your back. The ACLU has your back. We have your back. And for the next four years, we will not leave you alone. We will not forget you.”
