This year’s Academy Awards definitely went out with a bang! For those of you who have not heard, there was a mix-up with the winner of Best Picture. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway mistakenly announced the winner as La La Land. The crowd applauded and rose to their feet to commend everyone involved in this film. As a crew of people went to the stage to accept the award, the film’s producer, Jordan Horowitz, gave his thank you speech. However, there was a bit of commotion on the Oscar stage. A stagehand ran onstage and began inspecting the envelope. You could see a look in his eyes, something was wrong. After a moment of confusion, Horowitz took the microphone to say there was a mix up with the winning envelope. Moonlight was actually the winner for Best Picture, not La La Land. Honorably, Horowitz showed the card that wrote, “Moonlight,” to the cameras to prove that this was not a joke. He told the cast of Moonlight to officially come and accept this award and personally handed them the Oscar. The Moonlight crew ended the show by graciously taking the stage to accept this prestigious award with a continuous dumbfounded look on their faces. Overall, they left the audience, and the viewers at home, speechless. The main question stands: did commentators for Best Picture “Harvey” it?

The mix-up at the Academy Awards is similar to when Steve Harvey accidentally said the wrong winner at the 2015 Miss Universe competition. Both instances have been a strong headline in the news. They both were the ending of their particular award ceremony and the mix up was more memorable than the rest of the show. I think the shock of both situations overpowered the hard work that went into each event. When a shocking moment comes from left field, it can be the most memorable because it builds more suspense, similar to a climax in the film. Everyone remembers the climax. However, I do not believe the Oscars were “Harveyed”.

Instead, the similarity is more noticeable because of the time at which they happened. The mix up between the 2017 Oscars and the 2015 Miss Universe happened so close in time that they are fresh in everyone’s mind. Around the time everyone forgot Steve Harvey announced the wrong winner, Warren Beatty announced La La Land instead of Moonlight. However, did you know that Steve Harvey was not the first person to give the award to the wrong person at a prestigious event? In 1964, Sammy Davis Jr. announced the wrong winner for Best Music Score at that year’s Oscars. In addition, the wrong name was announced twice at the 2011 BET Awards for Viewer’s Choice. Overall, I do not think the term “Harveyed” should exist because Steve Harvey was not the first to make the mistake of reading the wrong name.

I definitely see the similarities between the Oscar’s and the Miss Universe mix up. They both announced the wrong winner and created a storm over social media. However, I think they would not be compared to such a high extent if two instances actually occurred: If they were not so close time and if the other accidents, like in 1964, occurred during the time of the internet. Overall, I hope the announcers at the 2017 Oscars can laugh at this embarrassing moment and move on. Steve Harvey was not the first to announce the wrong winner and Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway will not be the last; history tends to repeat itself.