The two PwC accountants in the spotlight following a very public confusion over who won the ‘best picture’ award at this year’s Oscars ceremony have now been given bodyguards following reports they have received death threats on social media after their home addresses and photos of their families were published in the media
PwC’s US firm has said security has been increased at the homes of Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz, the two accountants in charge of tabulating the results of the Oscars votes and, crucially, handing over the envelopes containing the winners’ names on the night.
At the very end of the evening, veteran actor Warren Beatty opened the envelope and announced that hot favourite La La Land had won the best film category. Members of that film’s production team were mid-way through their acceptance speeches on stage, when one of them revealed that the true winner was, in fact, the more low budget low key film Moonlight.
PwC has already put out a statement taking responsibility for the mix-up, which happened when Beatty was mistakenly given a second, back-up envelope with the name of the winner of the preceding award for best actress. This was Emma Stone, who stars in La La Land.
The firm has also said that neither Cullinan – once described in PwC social media as a Matt Damon lookalike – nor Ruiz will be working on the Oscars accounting project again. However, they will retain their other roles within the firm.
PwC has apologised for the mistake. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has said it is reviewing its relationship with PwC, which has been in charge of the voting process for the Oscars for the past 83 years.
Cullinan is understood to have tweeted a picture of best actress winner Emma Stone minutes before handing the presenters the wrong envelope, with the Academy suggesting ‘distraction’ may have been to blame for the error.
