What if the Presenter Gives the Oscar to the Wrong Nominee?

Question

I really should have posted this question during the Academy Awards.

What will happen if a presenter accidentally or intentionally announces the wrong winner of Best Picture of the Year?

Supposed the presenter forgot to wear his/her contacts or glasses and couldn't clearly read what was on the envelope. Or supposed the presenter doesn't like the winner and so chooses the other nominee.

Do you think that would cause a significant scandal and controversy in the entertainment world?

Just imagine: The producers of the "winner" are celebrating their much publicized Best Picture Oscar, but the Academy voters and the other nominee (who both feel something's not right) are demanding an investigation on the matter.

Meanwhile, the producers of the Academy Award show, afraid of the bad publicity, just wants to keep the matter under wraps.

Do you think that would be a good plot for a comedy about Hollywood, in the spirit of "The Player" and "Get Shorty"?

I appreciate The Aisle Seat's response below (2nd answer). Somehow I'm not surprised that the accounting firm handling the Oscars will have a rule for exactly the hypothetical situation I posted.

Still, it is possible that politics, conflicts of interests, personal agendas, and the media circus, can all conspire to create one big mess. We are talking about Hollywood here.

Supposed, the wrongly awarded Oscar Winner was Scorsese or Eastwood, do you think that even the accounting firm would be confident enough to strip such a prestigious and highly connected director of the award?

What if the presenter was Jack Nicholson or Steven Spielberg? Do you think anyone would have the guts to accuse them of being frauds?

What if the envelopes was destroyed or hidden somewhere? Who's to say who the "real" winner was?

What if no body, not the Motion Picture Academy nor the accounting firm, want to investigate the matter?

What if the only one who cared was an intrepid young reporter?

I think it would make for a highly entertaining comedy about the politics, absurdity, behind the scenes, and sensation of the Academy Awards.

Seriously, somebody should pitch this idea to Woody Allen or David Mamet.

More details of the plot: The young reporter for Vanity Fair or Daily Variety (played by either Toby Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Elijah Wood, or Scarlett Johanssen) gets an anonymous tip from an 'insider' about the Oscar fraud SEVEN MONTHS after the Awards Ceremony.

By then general public and the entertainment industry have accepted and crowned the "surprising" winner of Best Picture of the Year.

But that doesn't hinder our intrepid young reporter from attempting to reveal the cover-up and to discover the truth.

Okay, the movie will be called "And the Oscar Goes To."

It'll have an all-star cast. Not to mention, cameo appearances from some of the biggest names in Hollywood: Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Penelope Cruz, the Weinstein Brothers, just to name a few.

Answer 1

That would be funny! I'd love to see the look on the faces of those people who went up on stage to make a speech.

I personally do not think that the "non-winner" will have to give the Oscar back. I mean, their film was good enough to be nominated.

What will likely happen is that there will be controversy. The real winner will share the Oscar. The presenter with the snaffu won't suffer any setbacks to their career. But it will be a moment that will be part of history forever.

Answer 2

I've most effective obvious four of the nominees: Lincoln, Django Unchained, The Avengers, and Prometheus. I did not like Lincoln, however quite preferred Django Unchained. Out of five stars, I gave Lincoln two stars, Django Unchained three.five stars, The Avengers three stars, and Prometheus two stars. Prometheus is a well contender for its class, Visual Effects. I consider my tastes are wholly reverse of Hollywood. I was once bored and dissatisfied with Lincoln, however preferred the cinematography, peculiarly close the top while Lincoln is leaving the White House to visit Ford Theatre. During the declaration of the nominees, I preferred a number of the jokes Seth made, adding this one, after he learn the nominees for Best Director: "These are 5 folks who're the very nice at sitting in a chair looking different folks make a film."

Answer 3

Sir, there's actually a rule for if that happens. A representative from the accounting firm that counts the votes is authorized to come on stage and announce the correct winner in the event that the wrong one was announced. The Academy made this rule public back in 1992, when many people thought Marisa Tomei was incorrectly named Best Supporting Actress for "My Cousin Vinny." The Academy said that if the presenter had read the wrong name, someone would have stepped in to make the correction.

Answer 4

Ron Howard claimed that Mel Gibson "promised to call his name either way" the night he won a Best Director Oscar. I'm surprised it hasn't happened before but if it did, Mel (or maybe Jack Nicholson) would be the one to do it!!

Answer 5

It would be odd, but it would definitely blown way out of proportion later on. There have been lots of times when I wished that was what happened, though, bc sometimes the award goes to the least deserving.

Answer 6

The academy wouldn't care how it looked, the presenter would take all the heat. Would be intertesting to see the reactions. It would suck for the movie that was announced and then stripped.

Answer 7

I guess the only thing that can be said is "OUCH" because that's going to be the key word from a mistake like that. Funny, I never gave that a thought that it would
ever happen. : }

Answer 8

On stage they are all given the same Oscar. Then when they get backstage they are given a clean one with their name on it and the category.