Accountants blamed for Oscars gaffe barred from all future shows

The two accountants found at fault for botching the climactic announcement of the winner for best picture at the Academy Awards have been officially declared unfit for any future Oscar duty, organizers of the ceremony said on Wednesday. Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz, blamed for the envelope mix-up that led “La La Land” to be being erroneously named best film before “Moonlight” was declared the actual winner, are still employed as partners of the prestigious accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a company spokesman said.

We apologise to the entire cast and crew of La La Land and Moonlight whose experience was profoundly altered by this error.

PwC statement

It has been described as the biggest mistake in 89 years of Academy Awards history. Mr Cullinan mistakenly handed the wrong envelope to the two presenters. He gave Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway the back-up envelope for best actress in a leading role - rather than the envelope which contained the name of the winner for the best film. PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which counts the votes and organises the envelopes, has apologised for the mix-up.

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