Now we know: The Best Picture Oscar debacle was the accountants' fault

Warren Beatty, you are off the hook. 

You too, Faye Dunaway. And to La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz: You dealt with this in addition to anybody might have.

The blame for the Greatest Image Oscar snafu has lastly been owned: PricewaterhouseCoopers, the London-based accounting and "skilled providers" agency that has dealt with the Academy Awards winners for years, admitted Sunday night time that they tousled.

Beatty was handed the fallacious envelope.

PricewaterhouseCoopers' assertion, despatched to Mashable later Sunday night time, reads:

We sincerely apologize to “Moonlight,” “La La Land,” Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and Oscar® viewers for the error that was made in the course of the award announcement for Greatest Image. The presenters had mistakenly been given the mistaken class envelope and when found, was instantly corrected. We're presently investigating how this might have occurred, and deeply remorse that this occurred. We respect the grace with which the nominees, the Academy, ABC, and Jimmy Kimmel dealt with the state of affairs.

The important thing right here: There are all the time two similar winners' envelopes, stored by PwC officers standing on reverse ends of the stage. 

One way or the other, Beatty — presenting Greatest Image with Dunaway — had been given the envelope for Greatest Actress, which had already been introduced as La La Land's Emma Stone moments earlier than. On the opposite aspect of the stage, Beatty acquired handed an equivalent envelope.

And this is proof:

As anybody would, Beatty tried to roll with it.

He appeared over the cardboard two occasions, then a 3rd. He clearly wasn't positive — it did not make sense that his envelope stated "Emma Stone." And so he confirmed it to his fellow presenter, Dunaway, who noticed the phrases La La Land. 

And, as a result of the clock was ticking, she spoke them.

The remainder of that story has been well-documented. The La La Land crew took the stage and commenced to offer speeches — then have been informed by panicking manufacturing crew that they'd truly misplaced. Moonlight was the actual winner.

For the subsequent couple of hours, theories flew: Emma Stone called Beatty's explanation into question. Moonlight director Barry Jenkins stated he noticed "two envelopes." Nobody was positive precisely what occurred or why.

However now we all know: One way or the other, somebody handed off the improper envelope to Beatty backstage. 

The PwC accountants, whose one job is to get these things proper, obtained it flawed.

A minimum of they owned it. Ultimately.