Salma Hayek scored a front row seat to this year’s big Oscars flub – she was behind the scenes with the stage manager when the mix-up over the night’s Best Picture winner went down.
The Mexican star was chatting with ceremony bosses, who were preparing to celebrate a job well done, when it became evident something was wrong.
Presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were handed the wrong envelope and announced La La Land had won the big prize, when in fact writer/director Barry Jenkins‘ Moonlight had picked up the top honour.
As La La Land’s producers hit the stage at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood with director Damien Chazelle and his cast, Oscars bosses declared there had been a mistake and Jenkins and his fellow producers were beckoned onstage to accept the award as Chazelle, Emma Stone and John Legend, among others, watched in disbelief.
Salma saw all the drama unfold before the audience at the Academy Awards.
“I actually heard the stage manager standing in front of me saying, ‘No, no, no, that is not the movie’, and so I saw it before it happened,” she reveals to Entertainment Tonight. “I said, ‘What are they going to do now?’ and then I saw him (stage manager) get onstage. And then I said, ‘Oh my God, they are going to say it’.
“I actually saw it before everyone else and it was kind of freaky but exciting, and I am just glad at least two movies got to get up onstage and be celebrating.”
Meanwhile, stylish Salma, who was a presenter at the Oscars, was the talk of the red carpet in a stunning black lace Alexander McQueen gown.