Playing out with all the intrigue of a political scandal, the fallout from the Best Picture fiasco at the Oscars on Sunday night continues. PricewaterhouseCoopers Managing Partner Brian Cullinan is getting most of the heat for allowing the wrong envelope to wind up in the hands of Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. Just prior to the Best Picture winner being announced, Cullinan was backstage tweeting a picture of Emma Stone, who had just won Best Actress — but as the USA Today reports, that might’ve been a major breach of protocol. Apparently, Cullinan was told he could use social media only before and after the Oscars, but not during the show. Oops. However, Beatty wants more answers.
While both The Academy and PricewaterhouseCoopers have issued apologetic statements about what transpired, Beatty says more is required to finally put to rest what really happened. Here’s what he said in a statement to EW:
Rather than for me to respond to questions from the press about the Academy ceremony, I feel it would be more appropriate for the president of the Academy, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, to publicly clarify what happened as soon as possible.
So, ball is in your court Academy. Beatty is correct that an explanation for what unfolded would be best for everyone, but I suppose it depends on how much embarrassment The Academy and PricewaterhouseCoopers want to open themselves up to.
