Oscars 2017: La La Land mistakenly named best picture winner
Updated
The most coveted award of the Oscars has descended into chaos, with La La Land mistakenly named the Best Picture winner, instead of Moonlight.
The celebrated musical had been widely tipped to claim the top honour, and its cast and crew were on the stage accepting the award when they were interrupted with the words no Oscar winner wants to hear: "I'm sorry, there's a mistake."
Shock spread through the Dolby Theatre as it became apparent that presenter Warren Beatty, who had fumbled with the card, had read the wrong name.
"I opened the envelope and it said 'Emma Stone, La La Land'. I wasn't trying to be funny," he said.
Host Jimmy Kimmel came forward to inform the cast that Moonlight had indeed won, showing the envelope as proof.
Producer Jordan Horwitz then graciously passed his statue to the Moonlight producers, saying they deserved the win.
Kimmel tried to focus the audience's attention firmly on the silver lining.
"I don't know what happened. I blame myself for this. Let's remember it's just an awards show," he said.
"I mean, we hate to see people disappointed. But the good news is we got to see some extra speeches."
More to come.
Topics: academy-awards-oscars, event, arts-and-entertainment, film-movies, human-interest, awards-and-prizes, actor, united-states
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