and showed us a photo of the
wrong envelope in Warren’s hand.
Then we knew what happened.
HUDSON I was like [to Brian],
“Your one job was to give Warren
the right envelope.” He was in
such shock that he just said, “No.”
NATOLI I’m sure they’re very lovely
people, but [the accountants]
just didn’t have the disposition
for this.
DE LUCA We didn’t, in our wildest
dreams, think we had to have a
conversation about what if the
worst thing that could ever hap-
pen, happens. I think they said
the same thing about the Titanic
and icebergs: “It’s never gonna
happen, don’t worry about it.”
TODD A bunch of them went off to
draft a PwC apology, and I went to
the Governors Ball and then the
Vanit y Fair party. I needed a drink
very badly.
WEISS Did I go to the Governors
Ball? Yes. I felt like a sports guy
limping off the field after taking
some hits, even though he won
the game.Newly minted Oscar winners
from La La Land and Moonlight
now find themselves together
backstage, trying to figure out
how best to approach the rest
of the night — from the press
rooms to the Governors Ball and
other parties. In the interviewroom, Stone pushes back against
Beatty’s claim that he had been
handed the best actress envelope,
not realizing there were two.
(“I don’t mean to start stuff, but
I had that card — so I’m not sure
what happened.”)
TA BAC K [La La Land songwriters]
Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who
had Oscars, and Justin Hurwitz,
who had two, said something like,
“Is it OK if we’re happy?” Emma
Stone was there, and she said, “I
have my envelope!” Everyone was
very concerned with having their
envelopes. It felt like a game of
Clue. Then I saw Damien. He was
white as a ghost.
ALBERT TELLO, Publicist, works with
Ta b a c k There was a weird energy
in that room.TA BAC K All of the La La Land and
Moonlight people were huddled
with their personal publicists.
Nobody from the Academy was
there to help, except for a woman
who runs the backstage named
Dina Michelle [the Academy’s
director of talent relations].
AIZENBERG We went up to the
Governors Ball. We just started
drinking, to be honest with you.
TA BAC K I strongly encouraged
Jordan and Barry to make an
appearance at the Governors Ball
— to walk in together — because
that would allow everything to
move forward. Once that moment
happened, everything seemed
OK. There was a release.
HOROWITZ I remember going inside
and seeing Barry and Mahershala
and hugging them.
SIEGAL I was standing at the
entrance to the Governors Ball
when Warren walked in with
the envelope. I said, “So, what
happened?” His phone rang, and
I could hear that it was Annette’s
voice, and she said, “Come home!
Warren, come home!” And he said
to her, “I did nothing wrong.”TODD I was walking around in a
haze. People were like, “Great
show! Sorry ...” I felt like, “Ugh.”
KIMMEL When I came up for air
and realized that the screw-up at
the end was going to be the head-
line, I was a little bit bummed out.
TA BAC K I went from the
Governors Ball to the La La Land
party [hosted by Lionsgate] at
Soho House. A lot of people were
carrying around Oscars, but it
was a little subdued. There were
lots of conspiracy theories.
HURWITZ I was mostly in the corner
with my family eating because
I was so hungry. I put one of the
Oscars down on a blue cheese
crumble and then all I could think
about was going home to clean
the felt on the bottom — so that it
wouldn’t smell like cheese.
HOROWITZ I remember being awake
at like 4 a.m. in the hotel room,
just looking at my phone. I had a
million emails and 2 million text
messages. It was emotional — a
lot of stuff I had never felt before.As the parties go on as planned,
the Academy leadership grills
PwC into the night.
HUDSON We all decided we’d better
get out of the green room and go
where it’s more private — into the
bowels of the Dolby.
MELIDONIAN Brian and Martha
wanted to see video of what
happened, so we pulled video.
HUDSON Brian was still in
shock — he looked red-faced,
glazed-over. And Martha
looked worried.
MELIDONIAN Brian’s wife was there
for a bit. And Martha’s husband.
Just hanging out. Then they left.
HUDSON Brian kept saying,
“I couldn’t have given him the
wrong envelope.”
MELIDONIAN We were working
together to get a statement from
PwC. It took a while. The first
version of their statement was not
an accurate description of what
had transpired.
BROCKMAN It was maddening. We
woke up their press person.
They weren’t paying attention
because they never had to.
MELIDONIAN Tim Ryan [PwC’s U.S.9:10 P.M. Kimmel says with mock outrage, “Warren, what did you do?!” Beatty addresses the audience, “I want to tell you what happened.
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.”
Kimmel interjects, “Well, you were funny.” Beatty responds, “Thank you very much,” before reintroducing Moonlight as the winner.KIMMEL
“Brian stood in
the corner and watched
it all play out. I think he
was hoping it would
get blamed on Warren.”KIMMEL: KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES. ISAACS, HARRIS: CHRISTOPHER POLK/GETTY IMAGES. BEATTY: LUCY NICHOLSON/REUTERS/NEWSCOM.
NAOMIE HARRIS, Moonlight actress
“Our producer actually lifted me out of the
seat and was like, ‘Come on, Naomie!’ ”