As explained by the actor Warren Beatty, who announced the award, he was given an envelope that said "Emma Stone, La La Land", and for this reason, he gave that film the winner instead of "Moonlight", the film that really had been chosen.
It will be a mistake remembered for decades. And something that had not happened in the always protocol Oscar Awards.
The actor Warren Beatty and the actress Faye Dunaway, the leading couple of "Bonnie and Clyde", took the stage of the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles to deliver the last award of the night: the award for Best Picture.
The predictions gave a close dispute between "La La Land" and "Moonlight". But everything seemed to dissipate when Beatty, a few seconds after opening the red envelope in which the winner's name was delivered and saying the traditional "The Academy Award goes to...", let Dunaway announce the first as the winner.
In that instant, the producers and crew, as is traditional, hugged each other and went on stage.
Two of the producers even managed to give their full thank-you speech, while the international media expanded the coverage of a victory that was to be expected.
However, something did not add up. As the second speech was going on, frantic running around from various people at the back of the stage began to be observed. One of them, in particular, was carrying a red envelope and was looking frantically for someone, without yet knowing why.
And in the middle of the third producer's speech, he received a small tap on the shoulder from Beatty, and then issued a very strange phrase: "We lost, by the way, but..."
Suddenly, "La La Land" producer Jordan Horowitz, who had started with the thanks, made his way to the microphone and tried to explain what was going on.
"My dears, there is a mistake," he said. And then he delivered a sentence that caused even more confusion: "Moonlight, you guys won Best Picture."
At that moment, the uncertainty was total: a group understood it as a gesture to applaud and a courtesy phrase, but the producer continued with more unusual gestures. "This is not a joke. I'm afraid they read the wrong card."
As the evening's host, Jimmy Kimmel, approached, the producer repeated his line to a bewildered audience: "Moonlight won Best Picture," holding up the card confirming it.
"This is very unfortunate," said Jimmy Kimmel, half-jokingly, half-seriously. And trying to break the ice, he said: "Personally, I blame Steve Harvey for this," alluding to the American presenter who a couple of years ago had made a mistake in the Miss Universe pageant by announcing the triumph of the wrong candidate.
Suddenly, a detail became relevant: Warren Beatty had hesitated for several seconds when opening the envelope, which even caused nervous laughter from the audience.
And Beatty, now, returned to explain what had happened not only to the theater audience but to the whole world.
"I want to tell you what happened," the actor said. "I opened the envelope, and it said 'Emma Stone, La La Land,'" he recounted. Minutes before, Stone had been awarded Best Actress, but her name should not be on the envelope of the Best Picture ad.
"That's why I took so long to announce the award," he said. "I wasn't trying to be funny." And he confirmed, again, that "Moonlight" was the winner.
Beatty's version, minutes later, was corroborated by various US media, which, when reviewing the images of the live announcement, realized a detail: the red envelope that was passed to the presenter said, on the back, "Better Actress".
That is the prize that Stone had received. And it was not, then, the envelope that revealed the name of the official winner of the most coveted prize of the Oscars.
But by the time the actor finished explaining what had happened, the "La La Land" crew had already left the stage, and the "Moonlight" crew, still stunned, hugged instead.
