Oscars Best Picture goes to La La Land ... Oops, Moonlight
Los Angeles Feb 27 (IANS) In a rare and unexpected gaffe La La Land which dominated the 89th Academy Awards was announced the winner of the Best Picture category when in fact it was Moonlight.
Presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway who were called to announce the winner pondered a while before reading the cue card which ended up being wrong.
The La La Land makers were mostly through their speech before the error was realised and a representative said: There s a mistake... Moonlight you guys won Best Picture... This is not a joke I m afraid they read the wrong thing. Moonlight Best Picture.
Moonlight reportedly one of the films with the lowest budget ($1.5 million) to win an Oscar was nominated for the Best Picture honour with Hidden Figures Hell or High Water Arrival Lion La La Land Fences Manchester by the Sea and Hacksaw Ridge.
The winning film tells a story of a young Cuban black man who struggles through life in a rough neighborhood of Miami. The victory of this tale also goes on to make a strong statement at a time when US President Donald Trump has launched a tirade against immigrants in the country.
After the unprecedented mix-up on stage Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel said: I blame myself for this. I knew I d screw this up... I promise I ll never come back.
The incident was reminiscent of comedian Steve Harvey s infamous Miss Universe goof up in 2016 when he mistakenly gave the crown to the wrong winner.
Taking a dig at the Oscars a post from the official account of Miss Universe read: Have your people call our people - we know what to do. #Oscars #MissUniverse.
--IANS
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