Not About Him

Warren Beatty Opens Up About Oscar Blunder: It Wasn’t Our Fault

Warren Beatty launched an unofficial one-man media campaign to clear his name of incompetence after Faye Dunaway announced the wrong Best Picture.

This time, Warren Beatty really doesn’t think it’s about him.

The actor spent much of last night defiantly insisting to anyone who would listen that he was not to blame for the Moonlight / La La Land mix-up which marred the Oscars.

Beatty and his co-presenter Faye Dunaway made a defiant appearance at the Governors Ball, the official Oscars after party last night, insisting they were not at fault for the Best Picture fiasco.

A pugnacious Beatty was still clutching the envelope he was wrongly handed by producers as proof of his innocence, amidst claims that Beatty’s representatives have demanded the Academy issue a statement clearing Beatty of blame.

The acclaimed stars of Bonnie and Clyde were bombarded with questions about the monster mix-up as they walked in to the party.

Walking past the backstage area at the Dolby Theatre en route to the Governors Ball, Beatty, 79, told a small group of reporters, “I don’t know anything … I don’t think anyone knows. I’ve asked and I haven’t got an answer.”

According to People, Beatty added: “I read the card that was in the envelope. I read it but I didn’t say La La Land. I thought, ‘This is very strange because it says Best Actress on the card.’ And I felt that maybe there was some sort of misprint.

“As planned, I gave it to Faye,” he added, still holding two envelopes in his hands as proof of his assertion. “And that’s all I want to say on the subject.”

DailyMail.com reports that Dunaway, 76, turned to Beatty, 79, as they walked in to the event and asked: “Are we in the sink?”

To which Beatty replied: “No. It wasn't us.”

Beatty lost no opportunity to hammer home his case, telling DailyMail.com's long time showbiz reporter Baz Bamigboye: “People thought I was being dramatic but I wasn't. There was something wrong. I showed it to Faye and she said La La Land.”

Hours after the blunder, accounting firm PwC, which collates votes and administers the awards, issued a statement saying: “We sincerely apologize to Moonlight, La La Land, Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for Best Picture. The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and when discovered, was immediately corrected.

“We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred. We appreciate the grace with which the nominees, the Academy, ABC, and Jimmy Kimmel handled the situation.”

According to reports, Beatty’s wife Annette Bening phoned him as he was entering the ball and suggested he head home but the iconic actor refused, saying once again that he had done nothing wrong.

According to USA Today, one of the accountants from PwC realised Beatty had been given the wrong envelope within seconds. The accountant jumped up, saying: “He took the wrong envelope!”

Around the same time, according to the paper, a stagehand realised the mistake, yelling: “Oh F***, oh my God. He got the wrong envelope.”

When a security guard tried to take the envelope off Beatty, he refused, saying: "Security is not getting this. I'm giving it to (Moonlight director) Barry Jenkins at a later time."

Not to mention preserving the evidence.

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Tom SykesEuropean Editor at Large

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