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The two PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) accountants behind the mix up that saw La La Land incorrectly named Best Picture will not work at the Oscars ceremony again, the organisers of the Academy Awards say.
A spokesperson for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said PwC accountants Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz will no longer tabulate Oscar votes.
They are also barred from handing out envelopes containing winners' names at the prestigious awards ceremony.
PwC is a multinational professional services firm and is one of the biggest auditors around the world.
No decision has been announced by the Academy on whether it will continue its partnership with PwC.
They have handled the Oscar tabulation process for 83 years.
A PwC spokesman said that Mr Cullinan and Ms Ruiz were still employed as partners at the accounting firm.
PwC had earlier taken full responsibility for the gaffe that stunned the Dolby Theatre crowd in Hollywood and a television audience worldwide.
The onstage blunder was not rectified until the La La Land cast and producers were on stage giving their acceptance speeches.
Moonlight was then announced as the real winner.
The mishap was unprecedented for the usually meticulously choreographed ceremony and stole the spotlight from the winners.
PwC said Mr Cullinan had mistakenly handed presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, who were announcing the Best Picture winner, the back-up envelope for Actress in a Leading Role instead of the envelope for Best Picture.
"Once the error occurred, protocols for correcting it were not followed through quickly enough by Mr Cullinan or his partner," the accounting firm said in a statement.
Oscar envelopes explained: How presenters get winning names
- The consulting firm PwC tabulates the winners based on ballots cast by the academy's 6,687 voting members.
- Two accountants are tasked with bringing the final results, inside sealed envelopes, to the Oscars ceremony. They are the people carrying briefcases on the red carpet, flanked by police protection.
- Each briefcase contains an identical set of envelopes for the show's 24 categories. The accountants also memorise the winners.
- The two accountants are ostensibly the only people who know the winners before they are announced.
- During the telecast, the two briefcase-toting accountants are stationed in the Dolby Theatre wings, one stage left and one stage right.
- Most presenters enter stage right. The accountant hands them their category's envelope just before they walk onstage. The category is indicated both on the envelope and on the card with the winner's name.
- On Sunday, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway entered stage right, where PwC representative Brian Cullinan handed them the errant envelope.
- The previous award, best actress, was presented by Leonardo DiCaprio, who entered stage left. PwC representative Martha Ruiz handed him the envelope for the correct category.
- A duplicate, unopened envelope for best actress remained stage right, and apparently ended up in the hands of Beatty and Dunaway.
Reuters/ABC
Topics: academy-awards-oscars, arts-and-entertainment, film-movies, community-and-society, united-states
First posted