Martha. We said, “That trust has
been broken,” and Tim said, “We
understand. They will not be bal-
loting leaders going forward.”A couple of weeks later, Cullinan
reaches out to the Academy.
HUDSON Brian said, “I’m so, so
sorry. I’m so sorry I did this to the
Academy.” I said, “I know, I know.”
MELIDONIAN I have not seen Brian
and Martha since.
BENING [Warren] took the envelopes
home, but he gave Barry Jenkins
his for winning for Moonlight. [As
for the other one,] I don’t know.
Maybe it’s still in my house.On March 28, the Academy’s
board of governors extends
Hudson’s contract for three years
and decides to continue to work
with PwC, opting not to sever
an 83-year relationship over a
human error, provided Cullinan
and Ruiz do not return to the
ceremony and stricter protocols
are installed. On May 12, news
breaks that Boone Isaacs will not
seek reelection to the board or
presidency. And on Sept. 12, Glenn
Weiss wins an Emmy for out-
standing directing for a variety
special for his work on the Oscars
telecast, saying, “My hat is off to
every single person on headsets
in the Dolby Theatre that night.”
Kimmel, Todd, De Luca, Weiss
and Natoli all are set to return for
the 90th Oscars on March 4.chairman and senior partner, who
had been at the show] eventually
came down and took charge.
The PwC statement, posted to
the Academy’s website at
12:30 a.m. on Monday morning,
reads: “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.
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 Jimmy Kimmel
handled the situation. — PwC”
HUDSON I went home and we
all kept talking all night. I have
no memory of thinking of any-
thing else for the next month,
basically. It was a terrible time.
Over the next few days, Cullinan
is front-page news: The New York
Daily News features a photo of
him on its front page alongside
the headline “And the Loser Is ...”
The long-married father of
three comes under a media micro-
scope — it is discovered that he
had hosted a party the night before
the Oscars — and The Daily Mail
posts a photo of his home, prompt-
ing PwC to hire security for him
and his family.
HUDSON People were following his
wife to doctor appointments,
and his kids. It was quite awful.
HARVEY Oh nah, the dude
at Pricewaterhouse — he ain’t
endured nothing. See, the mis-
take I made was against a
country named Colombia. They
have some people down there
— they are in a different business
— so when you get threats, you
gotta take it a little bit differently.Everyone else tries to get on with
their lives.
HOROWITZ Warren and I spoke on
the phone. We had a really lovely
conversation. Jimmy was awesome
in the aftermath of it. He wrote
me a note; I think he wrote every-
body a note.
HUDSON Brian did not come in here
[to the Academy headquarters],
but Tim Ryan did. He canceled his
plane and came in the next day.Photographs emerge showing
Cullinan on his phone just before
the envelope screw-up.
HUDSON Scott Miller, our attor-
ney, looked at backstage footage
over and over. We talked a lot
with Tim Ryan about Brian andTA BAC K In retrospect, it feels
funny to be making such a big
deal out of an envelope. We’ve
been through so much over the
past year, when you think about
my former boss [Weinstein].
#MeToo and Time’s Up feel so
much more important.
HOROWITZ I affected that moment,
but that moment affected me,
too, and both of those things are
very positive. I’m not glad that it
happened, but I’m glad that that’s
the result of it happening.
HARRIS It makes me have faith in
the voters and the system.
KIMMEL To this day, there are
people who think I caused that
envelope problem. Hopefully
history will be kind to me in that
regard, because one thing I defi-
nitely didn’t screw up was that.
MELIDONIAN It’s one of the greatest
moments on live television. Ever.*All subjects were interviewed for
this story with the exception of
Beatty (whose comments were on
The Graham Norton Show),
Gosling (Entertainment Tonight),
De Luca (KCRW’s The Business),
Bening (Jimmy Kimmel Live!) and
Natoli (The Wrap).9:11 P.M. Jenkins speaks as producer Romanski looks on in disbelief (1). Jenkins’
remarks include a shout-out to the La La Land team, mixed with what may have
been a veiled slap at President Trump: “I have to say — and it is true, it’s not fake
— we’ve been on the road with these guys for so long, and that was so gracious
and so generous of them. My love to La La Land, my love to everybody. Man.” THE
FOLLOWING DAYS Cullinan, a high-ranking PwC veteran and long-married father
of three adult children, is suddenly front-page news (2). The Daily Mail posts
online a photo of his home, prompting PwC to hire security for him and his family.12THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 158 FEBRUARY 28, 2018
ALI: JASON LAVERIS/FILMMAGIC. JENKINS: ABC/EDDY CHEN. NEWSPAPERS: RICHARD B. LEVINE/NEWSCOM.MAHERSHALA ALI, Moonlight actor
“In that moment, I don’t think we could be as
joyous. It wasn’t what it should have been.”