Oh, what a night! From Warren Beatty’s Best Picture devastating mix-up to host Jimmy Kimmel’s ongoing “feud” with Matt Damon, Us Weekly rounded up the most exciting moments from the 2017 Oscars, which went down on Sunday, February 26, at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre. Watch them all in the video above!
As viewers saw at the end of Sunday night’s telecast, Beatty, 79, and his Bonnie and Clyde costar Faye Dunaway mistakenly announced La La Land as the winner of Best Picture when, in fact, Moonlight was the true victor. The entire cast of the musical rom-com, starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, took to the stage to accept the award before they realized the colossal error.
“I’m sorry, no, there’s a mistake. Moonlight, you guys won Best Picture,” La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz said. “This is not a joke. Moonlight has won Best Picture.” He then handed the golden statuette over to the cast of the coming-of-age drama.
Before the shocking snafu, Kimmel, 49, entertained the star-studded crowd by taking digs at his faux nemesis Damon, 46, among many other antics. During his opening monologue, the late-night host, in a cheeky nod to our currently divisive political landscape, encouraged all Americans to reach out to someone they’ve disagreed with. In Kimmel’s case, that person was obviously Damon.
“I’ve known Matt so long that when I first met Matt, I was the fat one,” he quipped. “We’ve had problems. He’s a selfish person. Those of you that have worked with him know this. Matt did something very unselfish and I want to commend him for it. Matt, as you probably know, could have starred in Manchester by the Sea. … He could have taken that lead actor part for himself, but he didn’t. He gave that role to Casey Affleck, his childhood friend.”
Later on, Kimmel jokingly directed the show’s live band to play music louder and louder as Damon presented the award for Best Original Screenplay alongside Ben Affleck. “My God, you’ve gotta be kidding me! What is with the music? Am I being played off?” the actor said with a laugh. “Seriously?!”
To relive Viola Davis’ emotional acceptance speech, Justin Timberlake’s energetic opening performance and more ceremony highlights, watch the video above!
