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Donald Trump 'blames himself' for Moonlight/La La Land blunder because Oscars were 'focused so hard on politics'

'It was a little sad. It took away from the glamour of the Oscars'

Roisin O'Connor
Tuesday 28 February 2017 09:00 GMT
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Oscars 2017: Watch the La La Land-Moonlight Best Picture error in full

Donald Trump has claimed that the Oscars blunder over the Best Picture award was due to the event being "focused so hard on politics".

The US President was the subject of several jokes made by host Jimmy Kimmel, and was criticised by winners on the night.

He told Breitbart News: "It was a little sad. It took away from the glamour of the Oscars. It didn't feel like a very glamorous evening.

"I've been to the Oscars. There was something very special missing, and then to end that way was sad."

Kimmel threw barb after barb at Trump on the night, receiving cheers for moments such as when he said: "I want to say thank you to President Trump. Remember last year when it seemed like the Oscars were racist? That's gone, thanks to him!"

Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal, who presented the Oscar for Best Animated Film, criticised Trump's plan for a wall on the US border with Mexico.

"Flesh and blood actors are migrant workers," she said. "We travel all over the world, we construct stories, we build life that cannot be divided.

"As a Mexican, as a Latin American, as a migrant worker, as a human being, I'm against any form of wall that wants to separate us."

The mix-up that saw presenters announce La La Land as the winner of the Best Picture award instead of the correct winner, Moonlight, has been blamed on the Academy Awards' accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

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In an unusual second apology issued on Monday the firm cited PwC partner Brian Cullinan for the error and apologised to everyone involved in the embarrassing blunder that was played out on national television.

"PwC takes full responsibility for the series of mistakes and breaches of established protocols during last night's Oscars," the new statement said.

"PwC partner Brian Cullinan mistakenly handed the back-up envelope for Actress in a Leading Role instead of the envelope for Best Picture to presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.

"Once the error occurred, protocols for correcting it were not followed through quickly enough by Mr Cullinan or his partner."

Academy spokesperson Teni Melidonian told the Hollywood Reporter: "We've essentially launched a review of the entire process that happens backstage and the way PwC has been handling the envelopes and how they are carried out at the ceremony".

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