Academy fires PwC accountants behind Oscars mistake

Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said the duo will never work with the ceremony again
Confusion: Martha L. Ruiz, left, and Brian Cullinan
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Emma Powell2 March 2017
The Weekender

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Two PricewaterhouseCoopers accountants responsible for one of the biggest blunders in Oscars history will never take part in the ceremony again, the Academy has confirmed.

Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz were tasked with ensuring the correct envelopes were handed to presenters on reading out the winners, but Cullinan gave the wrong envelope to Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway leading to La La Land mistakenly being hailed Best Picture over real winner, Moonlight.

Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs broke her silence four days after the gaffe and told Associated Press that Cullinan and Ruiz will not work with the awards again.

She also said the Academy’s relationship with PwC – the accountancy firm that oversees the counting of the Oscars ballots – remains under review.

The news comes days after PwC took “full responsibility” for the blunder and named Cullinan as the culprit.

It was claimed that Cullinan made the mistake after getting distracted when he tweeted a photo, which has since been deleted, of Emma Stone after she won Best Actress at 9:05pm – just minutes before the Best Picture blunder.

Realisation: Warren Beatty looks on as Brian Cullinan hands over the correct envelope
Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

He told Variety that Cullinan had a pile of envelopes for presenters entering from his side of the stage and a pile of “back-up” envelopes for presenters entering from the other side of the stage.

He pulled the lead actress envelope from his “back-up” pile and handed it to Beatty.

“We clearly made a mistake and once the mistake was made, we corrected it and owned up to it,” Ryan said. “He feels very, very terrible and horrible. He is very upset about the mistake. And as a firm, given that he is a partner of our firm, it is also my mistake and our mistake and we all feel very bad.”

Academy Awards 2017 Oscars Ceremony - In pictures

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