Faye Dunaway felt ‘very guilty’ over best picture blunder at the Oscars

Faye Dunaway has said she could have done more to prevent the Oscars best picture fiasco and felt “very guilty”.

The actress, 76, broke her silence on the debacle to confess she was “completely stunned” by the mix-up.

In an interview last night on American TV, Dunaway said she thought co-presenter Warren Beatty was joking when he hesitated while showing her the envelope that was supposed to contain the name of the best picture Academy Award winner at February’s ceremony.

“He took the card out and he didn’t say anything,” she said. “He paused, he looked over me, offstage, he looked around and I finally said, ‘You’re impossible!’

I thought he was joking, I thought he was stalling. Warren’s like that, he kind of holds the power — a dramatic pause!”

Dunaway read out La La Land as the winner rather than Moonlight after the presenters were mistakenly given the envelope for best actress instead of best picture. She said she saw the name La La Land on the card but somehow missed actress Emma Stone’s name.

“We were, I won’t say deers in the headlight, but you are completely stunned, you don’t know what has happened,” added Dunaway.

She was not angry about being put in that position but instead felt “very guilty”. “I thought I could have done something, surely. Why didn’t I see Emma Stone’s name on top of the card?” she told NBC’s Lester Holt.

Accountants Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz were blamed for the error.