Cape Town - PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the accounting firm behind the Academy Awards, has released a second statement identifying the person responsible for the biggest blunder in Oscar history.
Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced La La Land as the best picture winner at Sunday's Academy Awards, though Moonlight was the actual winner. The pair had been given the Best Actress envelope to open instead of Best Picture, AP reported.
And now PwC has pointed out exactly who was responsible for the error.
In a statement released on Twitter they say: "PwC takes full responsibility for the series of mistakes and breaches of established protocols during last night’s Oscars. PwC partner Brian Cullinan mistakenly handed the back-up envelope for Actress in a Leading Role instead of the envelope for Best Picture to presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. Once the error occurred, protocols for correcting it were not followed through quickly enough by Mr. Cullinan or his partner."
The statement continues: "We are deeply sorry for the disappointment suffered by the cast and crew of La La Land and Moonlight. We sincerely apologise to Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Jimmy Kimmel, ABC, and the Academy, none of whom was at fault for last night’s errors.
“We wish to extend our deepest gratitude to each of them for the graciousness they displayed during such a difficult moment. For the past 83 years, the Academy has entrusted PwC with the integrity of the awards process during the ceremony, and last night we failed the Academy."
SEE THE TWEET HERE:
Variety reported that Cullinan, who handled the Oscar envelopes on Sunday night, was reportedly tweeting photos from backstage just minutes before he handed over the wrong envelope. He has since removed the tweets.
(Photo: Getty Images)