Star Shock! The Moment the A-List Oscar Crowd Realized 'La La Land' Was Not the Best Picture Winner

Hollywood A-listers like Matt Damon and Meryl Streep were just as shocked as we were when they realized La La Land had been mistakenly awarded Best Picture over Moonlight

Photo: Al Seib/Los Angeles Times/Polaris

The stars inside the Dolby Theatre at the 89th Academy Awards last night were just as shocked as anyone.

Every jaw in the house seemed to hit the floor when Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway mistakenly called La La Land as the winner of the 2017 Academy Award for Best Picture Sunday night — the honor actually belonged to Moonlight.

A photo of the moment shows some of Hollywood’s biggest names, including Matt Damon, Meryl Streep, Ben Affleck, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, with their mouths agape.

Streep was spotted with an especially memorable expression, and fans took notice on social media:

The morning after the show, Phillips took to Instagram to share her facial reaction to the incident, which she acknowledged had gone viral overnight. “Just woke up. 4000 of my closest friends have texted & emailed me about this picture,” she wrote. “I’m so glad there’s visual evidence of what it was like to be sitting there in that moment. I MEAN!!!!”

Michelle Williams, Sting, Mel Gibson, Lucas Hedges and Casey Affleck were among those photographed.

Gasps of confusion were heard in the theater when the cast and crew of La La Land took to the stage before the celebration was abruptly halted.

La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz stepped to the microphone and said, “There’s been a mistake. Moonlight won.”

“No. There’s been a mistake,” he said. “Moonlight, you guys won best picture …This is not a joke. Moonlight has won best picture.”

The Moonlight cast then took to the stage as the crowd cheered, and director Barry Jenkins gave a moving acceptance speech. But not before Beatty, 79, explained what happened.

“I opened the envelope and it said, ‘Emma Stone, La La Land.’ That’s why I took such a long look at Faye and at you. I wasn’t trying to be funny,” he said.

One of the two printed envelopes for Best Actress apparently ended up in Beatty’s hands as he went to present the Best Picture award. Confused, Beatty looked to his co-presenter Dunaway, 76, for help, and she ended up announcing La La Land. Accounting firm PwC, which handles the Oscars vote and ensures results are kept secret, admitted they gave Beatty and Dunaway the wrong envelope.

Beatty told reporters after the show that he didn’t know how he got the wrong envelope, saying, “I’ve asked and I haven’t got an answer.”