By now, everyone has heard what happened at The Oscars ceremony this year. The host and hostess read the wrong winner for best picture. It was considered the biggest blunder in the history of the Oscars. This event has striking similarities to the Miss Universe pageant when Steve Harvey also read the wrong winner. It really isn’t fair to the contestants who get up on stage, receive the award they have been working their whole life for, and then have it taken away from them. I find it strange that these huge events, broadcasted worldwide, are subject to so many easily avoidable issues.
How did it happen you might ask? Well, I am asking the same thing. There is a company contracted to keep the secrecy of the winners and all the envelopes until they are read. Each event usually coordinates their own company to handle the envelopes, so it isn’t just one company making all the mistakes. Their only job is to keep the envelopes private and ready to open. So where did it go wrong? The first reports on the scene that the envelopes had been mistaken for one another and the host was handed the wrong card. Thus leaving the blame on PricewaterhouseCoopers. PricewaterhouseCoopers is the company who was contracted to manage the envelopes. PricewaterhouseCoopers has since taken full responsibility for the very public and humiliating blunder. Their official statement was “There were breaches of established protocols that took place during the ceremony”.
Regardless of how it happened, it is almost unbelievable that it did happen. An event that has so much time and planning put into it. And for something so major to go overlooked is shocking to say the least. The AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Art and Science) have since stated their deep regret of the situation. They are a very respected committee and things like this do not help their reputation. The biggest victim of the whole situation is undeniably the cast and crew of La La Land. I wouldn’t be too thrilled if I worked my whole life to win an Oscar, only to have it recalled because of “Breaches of established protocol.” Although, I’m willing to bet that the cast and crew are willing to forgive them seeing as how they won five other Oscars.