The rumor that actress Marisa Tomei won her Oscar by mistake in 1993 was refuted by the Academy itself in 1994. The Academy issued a statement (via Gawker): “In the event a presenter should err in naming the correct winner in any category, [an] official has been instructed to immediately go to the podium and announce that a mistake has been made.”
According to Time, viewers saw this system in action during the 2017 Oscars, when Oscar presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were handed the wrong card and named “La La Land” as best picture, when the Oscar really went to “Moonlight.” According to Time, the cast and crew of “La La Land” had already assembled on the stage by the time producers from the Oscars ceremony ran to the stage to inform them a mistake had been made. Thinking quickly on his feet, “La La Land” producer Jordan Horowitz took the mic to announce to the public that “Moonlight” had really won best picture. “This is not a joke,” he said, adding he would be happy to hand the Oscar over to “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins. Despite the confusion, the Oscar went to the correct recipient in the end.
