LA LA LAND PRODUCER RECALLS MOMENT HE HAD TO HAND OVER THE OSCAR TO MOONLIGHT

Speaking to The Guardian, Horowitz revealed that he was in the middle of his acceptance speech when aides starting moving around amidst the cast of crew of La La Land who were on stage, whispering and trying to figure out how to try correct the situation.

"I realised something had gone wrong pretty quickly," recalls Horowitz. "I could see people running around in my periphery and I could hear people talking, and behind me, Emma Stone was whispering something. I saw Warren Beatty coming across the stage and I remember him holding up an envelope. I went over. Then another guy came over and I showed him the envelope. Lots of envelopes flying around. At that point everyone was like: 'Oh. Shit.' I just knew it needed to be fixed. Right then, I saw the cameraman and so I just locked my eyes on him, just looked right at him and thought, 'I really hope you know what to do now.' Luckily, he quickly zoomed in on the envelope, really fast. He totally nailed it."

But the producer has tried to think philosophically about the mistake, and the opportunity it presented to discuss diversity and representation in the industry.

"Barry Jenkins, Moonlight’s director, and I have talked about it a lot, about how we can look at it," Horowitz writes. "To me, being able to hand him the award, to be able to demonstrate that seminal moment was a formative thing. I’ve always tried to be politically active on social media, but it was only after this that people actually starting listening to me. I don’t care what other people say: representation and diversity really matter, I’ve learned that here."

Watch the moment Horowitz realised and corrected the mistake on stage at the Oscars below.