Auditors in trouble over contract following Oscars blunder

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), auditors responsible for handling Oscars during the past 83 years and in charge of the balloting process, landed in trouble after an on-stage blunder in which "La La Land" was mistakenly announced as Best Picture.

PwC is charged with guarding the envelopes that reveal the winners, and handing them to the presenters just before they go on stage.

PwC and Academy executives were seen in crisis meetings following the Oscars fiasco, which took place at the Dolby Theatre here on Sunday night, reports telegraph.co.uk.

The accolade had originally gone to "Moonlight" in an envelope mix-up not discovered until it was too late.

Within hours of the mix-up, the company released a statement saying it "deeply regretted" the mistake, saying "the presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope".

As it proudly boasts on its website, PwC was this year celebrating its 83rd year leading the Oscars balloting process, but the mistake has led to calls for it be to removed from the ceremony.

PwC veterans Martha L Ruiz and Brian Cullinan are the only two people who know the results ahead of the ceremony.

--IANS

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