INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Jimmy Kimmel, Stars React To Biggest Blunder In Oscar History

By Victoria Miller
Published on: 22:22 PST, Feb 26, 2017

Jimmy Kimmel blames himself for the biggest screw-up in the history of the Oscars. As the live telecast wrapped amid a ton of chaos at the Dolby Theatre, the self-depreciating late night host tried to lighten things up by saying, “I knew I would screw this show up. I really did.”

Of course, viewers of the live ceremony know first-time Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel had nothing to do with what the biggest mix-up in the show’s history. After the movie La La Land was announced as this year’s Academy Award winner for Best Picture, it was revealed that Moonlight actually won. La La Land producer Fred Berger was in the middle of delivering his acceptance speech when he was interrupted by staffers from PricewaterhouseCoopers and told that his film didn’t win after all. Kimmel stood by as the correct card was shown to the stunned audience.

Presenter Warren Beatty, who had announced the incorrect winner alongside Faye Dunaway, apologized, saying he was given the wrong envelope. Beatty and Dunaway reportedly were handed the best actress envelope which listed La La Land star Emma Stone as the winner of Best Actress, instead of the Best Picture envelope.

Jimmy Kimmel later took the stage and attempted to save the day with some humor, even pointing to a fellow talk show host who experienced a similar gaffe at the Miss Universe pageant last year.

“Guys, this is very unfortunate what happened,” Jimmy told the stunned audience. “Personally, I blame Steve Harvey for this. I would like to see you get an Oscar anyway, why can’t we just give out a whole bunch of them?”

After the Moonlight cast took the stage to celebrate their win, Kimmel tried to calm down the shocked crowd, and he promised never to return as the host of Hollywood’s biggest night.

“Well I don’t know what happened,” Jimmy said.

“I blame myself for this. Let’s remember, it’s just an awards show. I mean, we hate to see people disappointed, but the good news is we got to see some extra speeches,” he asserted. “We have some great movies. I knew I would screw this show up, I really did. Thank you for watching. I’m back to work tomorrow night on my regular show. I promise I’ll never come back. Good night!”

According to People, Jimmy Kimmel said he knows he will forever be asked about the movie night mix-up.

“I don’t know what just happened!” Kimmel said. “I should probably find out … for the rest of my life people are going to ask me about this.”

The Jimmy Kimmel Live Twitter account posted a few tweets following the Oscar oops.

In addition to Jimmy Kimmel, several other big names in the business reacted to the movie night gaffe. Others praised how Kimmel handled the awkward situation, including screenwriter M. Night Shyamalan, who joked that he wrote the twist ending to the Oscars.

After the show, Jimmy Kimmel talked to reporters about the movie moment that will go down in history and explained why Beatty didn’t ask for help when he was handed what was clearly an incorrect card

“He was confused because the card — which he showed to me, by the way — said ‘Emma Stone, La La Land‘ on it,” Kimmel said, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

“This was confusing, obviously. We thought he was being coy and cute and milking it to make everybody suffer, but in reality, he was perplexed by why her name was on it….Warren Beatty has had so much sex, he can’t think about things like that anymore.”

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Jimmy Kimmel said he made a quick decision to return to the stage amid the mishap.

“It’s funny, I was about to go on stage and do a bit with Matt Damon and a doughnut, but I said, ‘I think I have to go on stage,’ because otherwise our stage manager Gary [Natoli] was going to have to finesse it,” Kimmel told the Times.

“There was a lot of nuttiness. It was kind of like a dispute over a boxing match. You didn’t know who won. You didn’t know who the winner was. But I have to say the producers of ‘La La Land’ were very gracious. Listen, it’s a TV show.”

Take a look at the video below to see Jimmy Kimmel’s top moments and his reaction to the biggest mix-up in the Academy Awards history.

[Featured Image by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]

Share this article: Jimmy Kimmel, Stars React To Biggest Blunder In Oscar History
oscars jimmy kimmel
More from Inquisitr