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Oscars stuff-up: Was Leonardo DiCaprio to blame?

Publish Date
Tuesday, 28 February 2017, 1:58PM
Photo: Getty Images

Photo: Getty Images

In the immediate wake of the painful moment at the Oscars when La La Land was mistakenly announced as Best Picture instead of Moonlight, viewers scrambled to find the cause of the mistake.

Many looked at Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, who announced the award, until it was revealed Beatty had been holding the envelope for Emma Stone's Best Actress award for La La Land.

Some speculated it was a stagehand who had mistakenly handed Beatty the wrong envelope. But others began to look towards another culprit who may have an ulterior motive: Leonardo DiCaprio.

Di Caprio, who won Best Actor for The Revenant in 2016, had presented Emma Stone with Best Actress moments earlier, before leaving the stage with the red envelope containing her award.

Fans were quick to theorise that DiCaprio handed Beatty the wrong envelope in an attempt to sabotage the Oscars as revenge for the two decades he waited to win his own.

The theory seems unlikely, however; Emma Stone told reporters backstage that she was holding her Best Actress card "the whole time".

However, PriceWaterhouse Coopers accountants Brian Cullinan and Martha L. Ruiz told MarketWatch before the ceremony that for security purposes, there are two envelopes for every award.

Regardless of who's at fault, it was an unforgettable moment that will go down in Oscars history.

- NZ Herald

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