We all talk about winning and losing and “treating those imposters just the same.” But at the Oscars – everyone knows what happened: the wrong name was given as the winner of Best Picture. And in the midst of the confusion, Jordan Horowitz, one of the producers of “La La Land,” the film that had been erroneously announced as the winner, stepped forward, took the microphone to correct the mistake, and offered the Oscar statue to a producer of “Moonlight,” the rightful winner. “In a crisis, [producers] are levelheaded and decisive,” Horowitz later said, “and I try to operate from a place of doing what’s right on a moment-to-moment basis. There was a real breakdown of process, and setting it right was in my mind the only option.”
“All I know is there was a moment when I knew it needed to be corrected,” he added. “There was just so much confusion. I think people needed to see that piece of paper. There needed to be some real definitive clarity and truth in that moment.”
Backstage, after one of the most shocking moments in Oscar history, “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins told reporters that “the folks from ‘La La Land’ were so gracious. I can’t imagine being in their position and having to do that. … I wasn’t speechless because we won. I was speechless because I – it was so gracious of them to do that.”
What would it be like in your sport to think you’d won the game, only to discover that actually you hadn’t? How could that happen? Can you imagine yourself as gracious as Jordan Horowitz?
