Fan geek outs may be the demise of us all, and were likely to blame for the chaos the world witnessed at the Oscars.
One of the envelope passers at the Oscars, a managing partner for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, tweeted a photo of Emma Stone backstage after her best actress win—just minutes before Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty mistakenly read the wrong card for best picture.
According to an internal investigation, he handed them the envelope.
Brian Cullinan, one of the two PwC partners backstage with the envelopes, posted the photo approximately three minutes before Beatty and Dunaway read the wrong winner. On Monday, the accounting firm admitted it had been responsible for the high-profile gaffe that saw La La Land mistakenly awarded best picture.
The tweet has since been deleted, and it’s been speculated that his fanboy moment may have led to the mess we all watched unfold.
Screengrab via the Wall Street Journal/Twitter
After re-watching footage, Cullinan is clearly visible onstage looking at his envelope, and then quietly sneaking into the background.
https://twitter.com/bakedinapie/status/836081569341259776
Since the incident, the tag #EnvelopeGate has dominated Twitter, with users creating their own conspiracy theories.
We need to re-check EVERYTHING #Oscars #envelopegate pic.twitter.com/NIoqRRpME1
— ᥫ᭡ 🇵🇸 (@girlswithtoys) February 27, 2017
For now, at least, we have certainty.
H/T USA Today