Crazy Oscars ending: "Moonlight" is best picture after "La La Land" mistakenly crowned

ajc.com

Credit: Jennifer Brett

Credit: Jennifer Brett

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"Moonlight" claimed the heaviest hardware of the night at the end of Sunday's Academy Awards, winning the best-picture Oscar after a goof redolent of a certain 2015 beauty pageant mixup.

UPDATE: In a statement released about 3 a.m. Monday, PricewaterhouseCoopers apologized for the mess.

"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," said the statement from the firm responsible for tallying Oscar ballots and keeping up with envelopes containing winners. "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."

NEW: Steve Harvey's take on the best-picture goof: "Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty" I'm free at last!

MORE: Mahershala Ali is the first Muslim actor to win an Oscar 

"La La Land" was mistakenly announced as the best-picture winner in a cringe-worthy gaffe Kimmel did his best to smooth over.

"Personally, I blame Steve Harvey for this," the host quipped, referencing Harvey's inadvertent crowning of the wrong Miss Universe winner in 2015 .

Beatty, who with "Bonnie and Clyde" co-star Dunaway introduced the final award of the night, gave an explanation of what happened.

"Hello. I want to tell you what happened: I opened the envelope and it said Emma Stone, 'La La Land.' I wasn't trying to be funny," he said. "This is 'Moonlight,' the best picture."

MORE:   All the winners

It still isn't super clear what happened - did someone hand the presenters the wrong card, or what? Look for an exhaustive investigation.

Early on, "Moonlight" star Mahershala Ali picked up a best supporting actor trophy as the first winner of the night.

Stone picked up a best-actress trophy for her role in "La La Land," which also scored 32-year-old  Damien Chazelle best director honors.  "La La Land" also claimed best original song ("City of Stars"), cinematography and production design awards.

"I'm so grateful to have been involved in this film," Stone said in her acceptance speech. "And thank you for your faith and your patience and such a wonderful experience. And Ryan Gosling, thank you for making me laugh and for always raising the bar, and for being the greatest partner on this crazy adventure."

Among the lighthearted moments: Kimmel welcomed a roster of tourists who thought they'd just be cruising around seeing the sights. Instead a guy named Gary from Chicago showed up, camera phone locked and loaded. After Gary introduced his fiancee and fellow tour member, Oscar nominee Denzel Washington jumped to his feet to pronounce them man and wife. (Shoot, what else do you need?)

The most pointed political commentary of the night came from a winner who did not attend. After "The Salesman" was named best foreign film, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi delivered his remarks via a spokeswoman,  Anousheh Ansari: