La Land’s winning streak came to a harsh and surprising end at at the Academy Awards tonight when Moonlight took home the Oscar for Best Picture, after Damien Chazelle’s modern musical received the award first.
Emma Stone, who won the Oscar for Best Actress, was on stage when the whole flub happened, watch video to see her initial reaction when she first found out the real results:
But after overcoming the initial shock, she had some serious praise to give Barry Jenkins’ drama backstage:
I fucking loved Moonlight,” Stone told a reporter at Entertainment Weekly. “God, I love Moonlight so much! I’m so excited for Moonlight! And of course, it was an amazing thing to hear La La Land. I think we all would have loved to win Best Picture. But we are so excited for Moonlight. I think it’s one of the best films of all time. So I was pretty beside myself.”
Warren Beatty, who presented the Best Picture award (along with Bonnie and Clyde costar Faye Dunaway) explained on stage that he was given the wrong card. He was apparently holding the Actress in a Leading Role card, which red Stone’s name, when he took the stage. See slay Entertainment coverage on this saga.