SANTA MONICA — The fateful instant when Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty incorrectly announced the Best Picture winner at the Oscars is a moment that will forever live in infamy. With each day, new information has come to light regarding how the ghastly blunder first occurred. With a mistake this big the ramifications will be seen for a long time to come, especially for the two accountants whose responsibility it was to ensure the Oscars ran smoothly.
When “La La Land” was announced as the winner for best picture instead of “Moonlight,” both Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz lives were forever changed. Suddenly, these two unsuspecting people were thrown into the national spotlight and blamed for one of the biggest blunders in Oscar history. Unsurprisingly, the public has not responded well, generally bashing and shaming both the responsible parties.
However, the publics response has been even more drastic than simple trash talk. TMZ.com has reported that both accountants have received death threats on social media and that photos of their homes have been posted and made public. So drastic was the response that security has had to be improved to keep these two safe.
In addition to their livelihood being threatened, both accountants have been officially banned by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science from ever being a part of the Oscars or the ballot counting again. Reuters reports that security guards have been placed outside each accountants’ respective house.
As of now both Cullinan and Ruiz are still employees at PwC, however with a still enraged public the ramifications for this error are far from over.
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