Photo: amoklv (Getty)
Of course, the mistake that everybody is still talking about this morning from last night’s epic Oscars broadcast is the fact that somebody gave Warren Beatty one of the two “Best Actress” envelopes instead of one of the two envelopes that held the winner for “Best Picture.”
We agree that that was indeed one hell of a mistake, but the far more egregious error came during the “In Memoriam” segment when a producer who still has a pulse was included amongst those who Hollywood lost in 2016.
According to Variety, Australian producer Jan Chapman was “devastated” when she saw this:
“I am very much alive,” says producer featured in #Oscars “In Memoriam” video https://t.co/oaAvOfMMiZ via @TODAYshow pic.twitter.com/JtdV9RxQQW
— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 27, 2017
Janet Patterson, the “Australian costume designer and four-time Oscar nominee,” did indeed die in October 2016, but the picture they included was one of Chapman, who quickly jumped online to reassure her loved ones and fans that she was still “very much alive.”
“I was devastated by the use of my image in place of my great friend and long-time collaborator Janet Patterson,” Chapman said. “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.”
So yeah, those are two fairly huge mistakes for the Academy this year. The good news? You guessed it: Nobody is calling them “racist” anymore, which is nice.
