“La La Land” was erroneously named the Best Picture winner at the 2017 Oscars on Sunday night — but was it just one big prank by host Jimmy Kimmel?
That’s at least what one conspiracy theory suggests, 12 hours after Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced the wrong winner when “Moonlight” ultimately took home the big prize of the night.
The Oscars’ accounting firm, PwC, released a statement taking the blame for the error that led to “La La Land” being incorrectly named the Best Picture. While they are still investigating how it happened, Beatty said he had been given a card that said Emma Stone won for Best Actress, but the actress herself said she had been in possession of her card the entire time.
“I want to tell you what happened,” Beatty said. “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.”
The Washington Post unearthed three prominent conspiracy theories spiraling around on the internet.
1. This was Kimmel’s biggest prank
Kimmel had been pulling pranks all night, from dropping candy from the ceiling to playing rival Matt Damon off the stage while he was presenting. He is also known for his Kids’ Halloween Candy prank and has been in an ongoing prank war with neighbors John Krasinski and Emily Blunt. Many took to Twitter to suggest this was just another one of Kimmel’s elaborate jokes.
https://twitter.com/pierce/status/836085683596906496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/bafeldman/status/836081942667935745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
@jimmykimmel that was a really mean prank – to both La La Land and Moonlight.
— Charlie Roxbee (@CharlieRoxbee) February 27, 2017
this was kimmel's best prank tbh
— Lana Berry (@Lana) February 27, 2017
2. It’s Leonardo DiCaprio‘s fault
Conspiracy theorists on Twitter noticed Leonardo DiCaprio didn’t give Emma Stone her card when she won Best Actress. Later on, Stone told reporters that she was in possession of the card the entire time after Beatty said he saw Stone’s name on the card.
https://twitter.com/kellyoxford/status/836086161885974528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/pollock_mitch/status/836090194025574401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Hey, maybe Leonardo DiCaprio laid the Best Actress card on top of the Best Picture card while walking off stage? It's his fault. #Moonlight
— MoonBlossom (@MoZone) February 27, 2017
3. Matt Damon pulled a prank on Jimmy Kimmel
Who knows, maybe the tables turned and Matt Damon actually pulled the ultimate prank on Kimmel.
I think @MattDamonOnline pulled the altimate #prank on @jimmykimmel by switching the #bestPicture envelope to ensure #JimmyKimmel gets fired pic.twitter.com/bpjYGjWt0B
— Veronica E Bruno (@VBrunoStories) February 27, 2017
Theory: Did Matt Damon prank Jimmy Kimmel by giving the wrong envelope to Beatty? Bwahahaha! #Oscars2017 #MerylSaysHi @moonlightmov pic.twitter.com/XeibuVaW1g
— Julie Salek (@tampajulie) February 27, 2017
https://twitter.com/cashleelee/status/836105821381668864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
And here are some other conspiracy theories that people tweeted out in light of the embarrassing Oscars error, from it being a publicity stunt to being all about the ratings.
Wtf. I'm not normally a conspiracy guy but in a world where controversy=ratings any chance this was engineered?? Also congrats Moonlight!
— george watsky (@gwatsky) February 27, 2017
https://twitter.com/ckgourdet/status/836100499367686145?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
conspiracy theory: it was a tie between la la land & moonlight so the academy staged an experiment where they announced one & waited for the
— neelam (@belamalhotras) February 27, 2017
Trump is part of the La La Land conspiracy @bengreenman @nytimes https://t.co/ez8fGavm8Q
— Jeremy@JRO (@JOorloff) February 27, 2017
Conspiracy theory: Was La La Land in on the joke to gain sympathy since it's getting more backlash lately ? #Oscars #Oscargate #Oscars2017
— APL (@aldrinalinerush) February 27, 2017