Arts & Entertainment
‘Moonlight’ is first LGBT film to win Best Picture after ‘La La Land’ mix-up
PricewaterhouseCoopers apologizes for critical mistake

(‘Moonlight’ wins Best Picture after Oscars flub. Photo via Twitter.)
After the biggest mistake in Academy Awards history “Moonlight” won Best Picture, making it the first LGBT film to win the category, after a surprise mix-up that initially gave its awards show rival “La La Land” the honor.
Presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, who were reunited on stage in honor of the 50th anniversary of their film “Bonnie and Clyde,” announced the winner at the end of the more than three-hour long ceremony. Beatty opened the envelope and after checking the envelope twice, causing the crowd to chuckle, handed it over to Dunaway who announced “La La Land.”
While the cast and crew of “La La Land’ began giving their acceptance speeches, a stage hand could be seen running out to check the envelopes. “La La Land” producer Jordan Horowitz then took the correct piece of paper from Beatty’s hands and declared to the “Moonlight” cast, “You guys won Best Picture. This is not a joke.”
Beatty explained to the crowd that when he double-checked the envelope he wasn’t trying to be funny but was confused when he saw Emma Stone and “La La Land” written on the paper.
“I blame myself,” Jimmy Kimmel, who hosted the 89th annual Academy Awards, joked to the crowd.
“Very clearly, very clearly, even in my dreams, this could not be true,” Jenkins said after the “La La Land” team left the stage and “Moonlight” finally received its recognition. “‘But to hell with dreams, I’m done with it, because this is true.”
I’m dead at this whole thing ?? #Oscars pic.twitter.com/3qN7Z9zdNL
— Funny Vines (@FunnyVines) February 27, 2017
U.K.-based accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, which has handled the Oscars’ ballot-counting for 83 years and manages “all aspects” of the voting process, apologized in a statement, CNN reports.
“We sincerely apologize to ‘Moonlight,’ ‘La La Land,’ Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for Best Picture,” the statement reads. “The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and when discovered, was immediately corrected. We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred.”
“Moonlight” already had a decent winning streak from earlier in the night. Barry Jenkins received Best Adapted Screenplay along with Tarell Alvin McCraney, who penned the screenplay “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue,” for which the film’s script was based. Mahershala Ali also won Best Supporting Actor for his role as Juan making him the first Muslim actor to win an Academy Award.
Other big winners of the night included Best Actor for Casey Affleck’s role in “Manchester by the Sea,” who beat out Ryan Gosling for “La La Land.” Gosling’s co-star Emma Stone took home a golden statue instead for Best Actress. Damien Chazelle also won Best Director for “La La Land” making him the youngest director to win the award at age 32.
Iranian film “The Salesman” won for Best Foreign Film but its director Asghar Farhadi was not present at the ceremony. Farhadi’s opted out of appearing at the show in protest of President Donald Trump’s immigration ban.
For a complete list of winners, visit here.
Best Picture: “Moonlight”
Best Director: Damien Chazelle for “La La Land”
Best Actor: Casey Affleck for “Manchester by the Sea”
Best Actress: Emma Stone for “La La Land”
Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali for “Moonlight”
Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis for “Fences”
Best Adapted Screenplay: “Moonlight” by Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney
Best Original Screenplay: “Manchester by the Sea” by Kenneth Lonergan
Best Cinematography: Linus Sandgren for “La La Land”
Best Foreign Language Film: “The Salesman”
Best Animated Feature: “Zootopia”
Best Documentary Feature: “O.J.: Made in America”
Best Original Song: “City of Stars” by Justin Hurwitz
Best Original Score: “La La Land” by Justin Hurwitz
Arts & Entertainment
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The Freddie’s Follies drag show was held at Freddie’s Beach Bar in Arlington, Va. on Saturday, Jan. 3. Performers included Monet Dupree, Michelle Livigne, Shirley Naytch, Gigi Paris Couture and Shenandoah.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)










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Queer highlights of the 2026 Critics Choice Awards: Aunt Gladys, that ‘Heated Rivalry’ shoutout and more
Amy Madigan’s win in the supporting actress category puts her in serious contention to win the Oscar for ‘Weapons’
From Chelsea Handler shouting out Heated Rivalry in her opening monologue to Amy Madigan proving that horror performances can (and should) be taken seriously, the Critics Choice Awards provided plenty of iconic moments for queer movie fans to celebrate on the long road to Oscar night.
Handler kicked off the ceremony by recapping the biggest moments in pop culture last year, from Wicked: For Good to Sinners. She also made room to joke about the surprise hit TV sensation on everyone’s minds: “Shoutout to Heated Rivalry. Everyone loves it! Gay men love it, women love it, straight men who say they aren’t gay but work out at Equinox love it!”
The back-to-back wins for Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein and Amy Madigan in Weapons are notable, given the horror bias that awards voters typically have. Aunt Gladys instantly became a pop culture phenomenon within the LGBTQ+ community when Zach Cregger’s hit horror comedy released in August, but the thought that Madigan could be a serious awards contender for such a fun, out-there performance seemed improbable to most months ago. Now, considering the sheer amount of critics’ attention she’s received over the past month, there’s no denying she’s in the running for the Oscar.
“I really wasn’t expecting all of this because I thought people would like the movie, and I thought people would dig Gladys, but you love Gladys! I mean, it’s crazy,” Madigan said during her acceptance speech. “I get [sent] makeup tutorials and paintings. I even got one weird thing about how she’s a sex icon also, which I didn’t go too deep into that one.”
Over on the TV side, Rhea Seehorn won in the incredibly competitive best actress in a drama series category for her acclaimed performance as Carol in Pluribus, beating out the likes of Emmy winner Britt Lower for Severance, Carrie Coon for The White Lotus, and Bella Ramsey for The Last of Us. Pluribus, which was created by Breaking Bad’s showrunner Vince Gilligan, has been celebrated by audiences for its rich exploration of queer trauma and conversion therapy.
Jean Smart was Hack’s only win of the night, as Hannah Einbinder couldn’t repeat her Emmy victory in the supporting actress in a comedy series category against Janelle James, who nabbed a trophy for Abbott Elementary. Hacks lost the best comedy series award to The Studio, as it did at the Emmys in September. And in the limited series category, Erin Doherty repeated her Emmy success in supporting actress, joining in yet another Adolescence awards sweep.
As Oscar fans speculate on what these Critics Choice wins mean for future ceremonies, we have next week’s Golden Globes ceremony to look forward to on Jan. 11.
