Never forget!

It’s nearly been a year since #EnvelopeGate which saw poor Warren Beatty read out the wrong winner in the Best Picture category at the Oscars. Yes, the actor was confused when he was mistakenly handed the envelope for Best Actress which was given to Emma Stone for her role in La La Land – in the excitement of the moment, he read La La Land as the winner of Best Picture. And, well, we all know how that played out. Well, this year, the Academy has put a number of steps in place to ensure a mistake like that will never happen again. The accounting firm who is responsible for the envelopes, PricewaterhouseCoopers, has new regulations in place this year in the form of a six-step checklist. PwC has banned the use of social media backstage and the use of mobile phones entirely. According to reports, the man responsible for the mess-up last year posted a selfie with one of the A-lister guests just moments before passing the envelope to Beatty – make of that information what you will. The envelopes will also have to be checked by both the stage manager and the celebrity presenting the award before they go on stage. There will also be a third ballot partner who will have a complete list of all the winners and another who will have that list memorised off. There will be a full run through this year with the new procedures in the event of a mix-up being practised just to put the new steps to the test. While the Academy and PwC saw last year’s snafu as a total embarrassment, we saw it as the highlight of the show. You have to admit, it was gas!