Oscar mishap accountants ‘will never return’ to ceremony

Martha Ruiz and Brian Cullinan of PriceWaterhouseCoopersImage copyright
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Image caption

Martha Ruiz and Brian Cullinan before this year’s Oscars ceremony

The two accountants responsible for muddling up the main award envelopes at Sunday’s Oscars ceremony will not be employed to do the job again, the academy president has announced.

Cheryl Boone Isaacs said that the relationship with the accountancy firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) was also under review.

Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz were responsible for Sunday’s mishap.

La La Land was mistakenly announced as the winner of the best picture award.

The team behind the film were in the middle of their speeches before it was revealed the accolade should have gone to Moonlight.

It has been described as the biggest mistake in 89 years of Academy Awards history.

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Media captionOscars insider: ‘Accountants need to pay attention’

Mr Cullinan mistakenly handed the wrong envelope to the two presenters.

He gave Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway the back-up envelope for best actress in a leading role – rather than the envelope which contained the name of the winner for the best film.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which counts the votes and organises the envelopes, has apologised for the mix-up.

Mr Cullinan tweeted a picture of best actress winner Emma Stone minutes before handing the presenters the wrong envelope, and Ms Boone Isaacs blamed “distraction” for the error.

Media captionThe moment La La Land’s producers realised Moonlight had won best picture

Oscar mishap accountants ‘will never return’ to ceremony