STAR-STRUCK AT THE OSCARS
Guy in charge of envelopes was busy tweeting Emma pic just before blunder
The bean counter who handed Oscars presenter Warren Beatty the wrong winners envelope Sunday night was busy tweeting snapshots of actors backstage just before he set in motion the biggest blunder in the award show’s history.
Brian Cullinan, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, which handles the Oscars voting, giddily posted a photo of “La La Land’’ star Emma Stone just three minutes before giving Beatty what was supposed to be the envelope containing the name of the Best Picture.
“Best Actress Emma Stone Backstage!” Cullinan tweeted at 9:05 p.m. PST, according to The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper obtained a copy of the post before it was yanked, allegedly along with the slew of other tweets the on-duty accountant sent out during the show.
Cullinan, 57, an LA-based, Cornelleducated accounting executive, was one of two PwC honchos overseeing the winners envelopes at the time. He was standing stage right during the event, holding a briefcase that contained the 24 envelopes with the winners’ names inside. His PwC partner, Martha Ruiz, was stage left holding another briefcase with an identical set of envelopes.
The pair took turns handing out an envelope to each presenter as they alternated taking the stage from either side. They were supposed to dispose of the envelopes they didn’t hand out.
Stone had just received her award for Best Actress in a Leading Role from presenter Leonardo DiCaprio, who was handed his envelope by Ruiz.
For the final award, Beatty entered from stage right, Cullinan’s side. But instead of giving Beatty the Best Picture envelope, Cullinan handed him the one for Best Actress.
Beatty, 79, had already been fighting with co-presenter Faye Dunaway, 76, during rehearsals over who would announce the winner, according to a report. The 1967 “Bonnie and Clyde” co-stars were so mad at each other that they refused to even walk out on the stage together, TMZ reported.
Beatty walked on holding the red envelope, not realizing that it said “Best Actress in a Leading Role” on the outside, and ripped it open as he said, “The Academy Award . . . for Best Picture” — but then seemed to hesitate, looking back off stage and appearing to study the card and envelope.
Dunaway, apparently thinking he was teasing, said, “You’re awful, God!” before he handed it over to her. She glanced at it and announced “La La Land’’ was the winner. Pandemonium ensued. “Oh, f- -k. Oh, my God. He got the wrong envelope,’’ a female stagehand was overheard repeatedly muttering behind the curtains, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Meanwhile, “La La Land’’ producer Jordan Horowitz and the film’s stars and crew poured onto the stage and began making acceptance speeches.
Cullinan, the stage manager and a member of the crew finally ran out. The ashen-faced accountant gave Beatty the right envelope, while a stagehand approached Horowitz and asked to see his winner’s card.
The horrified producer saw that the card he had was the wrong one.
He moved to the center of the stage, told the “Moonlight” crew they had won and yanked the correct card from Beatty — who claimed he was just holding onto it to show to that film’s director, Barry Jenkins.
It was a stunning, jaw-dropping moment — etched on the faces of the Hollywood A-listers throughout the audience. Gaping stars from Matt Damon to Michelle Williams to Meryl Streep watched in disbelief from their seats in the front rows.
“La La Land” actor Ryan Gosling chuckled uncomfortably on stage, while co-star Stone kept mouthing, “Oh, my God.’’
Cullinan — who has been with PwC for 32 years and has been doing the Oscars for four years — had apparently jinxed himself in various interviews in recent days.
“It’s so unlikely” that a mix-up in envelopes would occur, he told the Huffington Post last week.
PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a statement Monday night that several mistakes were made, and that two of its partners assigned to the award show did not act quickly enough when “La La Land” was mistakenly announced.
The PwC statement said Cullinan mistakenly handed Beatty and Dunaway an envelope containing the winner of the Best Actress award.
“Once the error occurred, protocols for correcting it were not followed through quickly enough by Mr. Cullinan or his partner,” the statement read.
The firm, which has handled Oscar-winner announcements for eight decades, apologized to Beatty, Dunaway, the cast and crew of “La La Land” and “Moonlight,” and host Jimmy Kimmel.
“We wish to extend our deepest gratitude to each of them for the graciousness they displayed during such a difficult moment,” the statement said. “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.”
Cullinan — who has boasted about meeting stars such as Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Goldie Hawn — did not return requests for comment from The Post. Neither did Ruiz nor PwC.