The O-SHOCK MELTDOWN; The Tale of Two Oscar Stories

'La La Land' mistakenly named best picture, 'Moonlight' wins

The 89th Academy Awards will likely be remembered not for the night's big winners, but for a massive mistake after presenter Faye Dunaway awarded "La La Land" the best picture Oscar that should have gone to "Moonlight" instead.

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But it wasn't her fault.

The official accountant of the Oscars, Price Waterhouse Coopers, gave her the wrong envelope.

“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 firm said in a statement. “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.”

Here's how it went down.

While the "La La Land" cast was onstage hugging one another and giving their speeches, producer Jordan Horowitz stopped short and announced suddenly that "Moonlight" had won.

He then held up the card that proved "Moonlight" was the winner. As the "Moonlight" cast and crew took the stage, chaos ensued.

Beatty, who had presented the award with Dunaway, took responsibility for the gaffe, explaining that he and Dunaway had been given a card with the winner for best actress -- Emma Stone for "La La Land" -- and that Dunaway had then mistakenly read that as the winning film.

"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," Beatty told the crowd amid the confusion on stage. "I wasn't trying to be funny."

Host Jimmy Kimmel tried to lighten the mood.

"I knew I would screw this up," he joked.

Later backstage, Stone said she had the card from which her best actress win had been read on her while the slow-motion disaster unfolded so it couldn't have been that they switched hers with "Moonlight's."

“I also was holding my best actress in a leading role card [from the envelope] that entire time,” she said.

"I guess we made history tonight," she added after saying "Moonlight" deserved the win. "I don’t even know what to say. I was still on such a buzzy train backstage that I was on another planet already. This felt like another planet. I think it’s an incredible outcome but a very strange happening for Oscar history.”

The scene was reminiscent of Steve Harvey's mistake at the 2016 Miss Universe pageant when he read the name of the runner up as the winner.

“There was a time when I thought this movie was impossible,” said Jenkins as he accepted — finally — the Best Picture Oscar for “Moonlight,” which was shot for $1.5 million in 21 days. Best Picture often comes down to which film aligns with the zeitgeist to deliver the message that some 6,000 voters want to send. That message was inclusion.

“Moonlight” and “La La Land” cast and crew share the Oscar stage