Oscars So White?
More like Oscars So… Wrong this year.
To close the 2017 ceremony, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were given the wrong envelope, leading to the biggest gaffe in Oscars history when the wrong Best Picture winner was announced.
But while this may have been the most noticeable mistake of the evening, it was not the only significant screw-up.
(And, no, that isn’t a reference to Casey Affleck winning Best Actor over Denzel Washington.)
During the In Memoriam segment – which paid tribute to all those in Hollywood who passed away over the past year – a photo of producer Jan Chapman appeared on screen at one point.
It was used to represent Janet Patterson, an Australian costume designer who died in October of 2016.
But Chapman is still very much alive.
And she felt awful about the accidental switcheroo (despite obviously playing no role whatsoever in the mishap).
Patterson was a four-time Academy Award nominee and was best known for working on period films such as Far From the Madding Crowd and The Piano.
The details of her death are unknown at this time.
Chapman, who is also Australian, most recently worked on The Babadook.
She issued the following statement to Variety after the In Memoriam video aired:
I was devastated by the use of my image in place of my great friend and long-time collaborator Janet Patterson. I had urged her agency to check any photograph which might be used and understand that they were told that the Academy had it covered …
Janet was a great beauty and four-time Oscar nominee and it is very disappointing that the error was not picked up. I am alive and well and an active producer.
It appears as those photo agency Getty is to blame for this mistake, as it mislabeled a photo of Chapman as a photo of Patterson.
Here is an actual photo of Chapman, while you can watch the error take place in the video above.
As is almost always the case, tribute reel was criticized for omitting a few names, including Garry Shandling and Florence Henderson (although, to be fair, both were best known for TV roles).
Moreover, Bill Paxton, who sadly died over the weekend, was not among the names and faces listed.
But only because he died after the clips were put together – and presented Jennifer Aniston made a point to mention Paxton in her introduction, fighting away tears as she did so.
The Academy has not yet said anything about the In Memoriam segment.
We’ll update this article with its quote if it ever releases one.
Until then, check out the following collection of GIFs and join us in wondering why no one ever taught Nicole Kidman how to clap…
