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Oscars backstage selfies banned after La La Land mix-up

Confusion: Martha L. Ruiz, left, and Brian Cullinan: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Confusion: Martha L. Ruiz, left, and Brian Cullinan: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

Selfies have been banned backstage at the Oscars following this year’s humiliating fiasco.

The move is one of a series of safeguards put in place by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to prevent a repeat of last month’s disaster when the wrong winner envelope was handed to presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.

The gaffe - described as the worst in Oscars history - resulted in the Best Picture Oscar being wrongly awarded to La La Land rather than Moonlight.

Accountancy firm PwC, which counts the votes and organises the envelopes, has taken responsibility for the “unacceptable” mistake.

PwC partner Brian Cullinan was said to be distracted by tweeting pictures of actress Emma Stone moments before the mix-up.

Mr Cullinan and fellow “balloting leader” Martha Ruiz have been told they will never work at the Oscars again.

New arrangements

  • A greater oversight role for PwC’s US chairman Tim Ryan

  • A return for PwC partner Rick Rosas, who was responsible for handing out the winning envelopes from 2002 to 2013

  • The appointment of a second new accountant who will be involved in Oscar ceremony rehearsals for the first time

  • The appointment of a balloting scrutineer who also knows the results and will sit in a control room to ensure a more rapid response to mistakes.

However, the Academy has decided not to sack PwC, which has been in charge of the Oscars voting count since 1934.

Instead staff from the firm, previously known as PricewaterhouseCoopers, have been banned from taking smartphones and tablets backstage to take selfies.

Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said in an email to members that the board of Governors had agreed new protocols with PwC for next year’s 90th ceremony.

The email, seen by the Hollywood Reporter, said: “Heading into our 84th year working with PwC, a partnership that is important to the Academy, we’ve been unsparing in our assessment that the mistake made by representatives of the firm was unacceptable.”

But she went on to say that the Academy has reviewed all aspects of its relationship with PwC, and after the firm presented revised protocols and controls, “the board has decided to continue working with PwC.”

Ms Boone Isaacs called the 89th Academy Awards “the most extraordinary and memorable Oscars ceremony in decades” and said that academy officials have been working since then to develop the new protocols.