Faye Dunaway Felt 'Very Guilty' About Best Picture Mistake at the Oscars
By JD Knapp, Variety
Faye Dunaway is finally speaking out about her role in #EnvelopeGate, two months after the now-infamous 89th Academy Awards best picture gaffe.
The Oscar-winning Network actress sat down with anchor Lester Holt on NBC Nightly News Monday, recounting the moments leading up to the mistake.
Dunaway and co-presenter Warren Beatty were responsible for announcing the night’s final award when she accidentally called out La La Land instead of Moonlight.
“[Beatty] took the card out, and he didn’t say anything. He paused, he looked over me, off-stage, he looked around, and I finally said, ‘You’re impossible.’ I thought he was joking! A dramatic pause.”
The confusion was cleared up moments later when the La La Land producers were informed they had lost, prompting both movies’ casts and crews to awkwardly crowd the stage.
Related: New Photos Show PWC Accountant Tweeting, Mixing Envelopes Backstage at Oscars (EXCLUSIVE)
While the mix-up was eventually attributed to an error on the parts of PricewaterhouseCoopers accountants Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz, Dunaway admits she still feels partially responsible.
“I won’t say deers in the headlight, but [we were] completely stunned. [We didn’t] know what was happening. I was very guilty, I could have done something surely. Why didn’t I see Emma Stone’s name on the top of the card?”
The Academy and PwC have since apologized for the mistake. The accounting firm will still manage the results moving forward, only without Cullinan and Ruiz. There will also be new procedures in place to prevent similar situations from happening in the future.
