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Oscars 2017: A breakdown of the audience reactions to La La Land-Moonlight Best Picture blunder

The assembled crowd looked just as shocked as you  

Jacob Stolworthy
Tuesday 28 February 2017 12:33 GMT
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(Getty Images)

This year's Academy Awards culminated in the biggest screw-up in Hollywood history when La La Land was named Best Picture despite Moonlight actually winning.

The moment in question saw presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty handed a duplicate envelope for Actress in a Leading Role which had just been handed out to La La Land star Emma Stone. In confusion, Beatty handed the card to his Bonnie and Clyde co-star Dunaway who, failing to notice, incorrectly named Damien Chazelle's musical as the winner of the evening's biggest award.

While viewers could clearly see the look of shock and confusion on the faces of the producers, actors and directors gathered on the stage, the true magic was happening off screen in an audience comprised of Manchester by the Sea stars Michelle Williams and Best Actor winner Casey Affleck, Meryl Streep, Mel Gibson and David Oyelowo, captured in one incredible photo by the LA Times.

On the far right, Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs can be seen here, clearly in shock by just how awry things have gone, while blockbuster king Dwayne Johnson looks more subdued by the screw-up than ever. Meryl Streep (bottom right) can only look on in disbelief...

(LA Times)

...until the penny truly drops.

Then there's Matt Damon and Michelle Williams, who attended alongside her Dawson's Creek co-star Busy Phillipps, who can't quite believe they have front row seats to the biggest error in Oscars history. Salma Hayek can also be seen sat squarely in front of events. Following the ceremony, she told Entertainment Tonight: "It was kind of freaky but exciting, and I am just glad at least two movies got to get up onstage and be celebrated."

Award presenter Ben Affleck was seeking validation that the blunder had actually went down, but most people want to think he was just checking that his Good Will Hunting co-writer Damon was okay.

And then there's a horrified Shirley MacLaine, an actor who perhaps had more vested interest in the matter because it was her little brother Warren Beatty at the heart of the whole thing.

The evening's host Jimmy Kimmel has spoken out about the event from his own perspective, citing the moment as “the weirdest finale since Lost.”

You can find a full list of winners here.

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