Second time’s the charm? Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway will be returning to the Academy Awards on Sunday, March 4, to present the Best Picture award to Moonlight after the disastrous mix-up that rocked last year’s ceremony, a source exclusively reveals to Us Weekly.
“The Academy is giving Moonlight a proper chance to reaccept their Oscar award,” the source tells Us. “Faye and Warren will present it to the cast again as the first award of the night.”
‘La La Land’ producer Jordan Horowitz holds up the winner card reading actual Best Picture winner ‘Moonlight’ with actor Warren Beatty and host Jimmy Kimmel onstage during the 89th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood Highland Center on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood, California.evin Winter/Getty Images
Beatty and Dunaway famously bungled the announcement last year when they called out La La Land as the Best Picture recipient instead of the actual winner, Moonlight. The 77-year-old Oscar-winning actress said La La Land’s name — after Beatty passed her the envelope in confusion. Producer Jordan Horowitz was in the middle of his acceptance speech before reality set in.
Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty speak onstage during the 89th Annual Academy AwardsKevin Winter/Getty Images
Horowitz told the crowd once the error had been realized, “There’s a mistake. Moonlight, you guys won Best Picture.” Director Damien Chazelle walked off stage while Ryan Gosling began to chuckle. Moonlight director Barry Jenkins and the movie’s cast and producers then accepted the award.
Beatty, 80, explained to the audience of shocked industry veterans at the time, “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.” Stone had just won Best Actress in the category before Best Picture.
Dunaway, meanwhile, said of the incident in April 2017 on NBC Nightly News: “I was very guilty, I could have done something surely. Why didn’t I see Emma Stone’s name on the top of the card?”
PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting firm responsible for the winner envelopes, announced new regulations that hopefully will prevent any future errors. In addition to forbidding the use of cell phones and social media backstage at the ceremony, presenters and a stage manager will confirm the correct envelope is going on stage before an award is presented.
The Academy Awards air on ABC Sunday, March 4, at 8 p.m. ET.
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