A New York Daily News column titled, “Warren Beatty completely to blame for Oscar flub — but then again, he’s just a dumb actor,” completely rips the Hollywood icon for “La La Land” being mistakenly announced as the Best Picture award winner during Sunday’s Academy Awards. (Of course, the award really went to “Moonlight” in what was arguably the biggest fumble in the history of the Academy Awards.)
“The mistake was all Beatty’s — and it’s because he’s an actor,” columnist Gersh Kuntzman wrote. “Because of said affliction, Beatty has spent his entire adult life avoiding having to think at all. His job is to feel, not think. When actors think, it really does get in the way.”
Kuntzman continued: “So when presented with a card that said, ‘Emma Stone, La La Land,’ Beatty didn’t know what to do… He obviously couldn’t think — from years of disuse, Beatty’s brain has atrophied to the size of the box office grosses for ‘Ishtar.’”
Kuntzman wrote that Beatty should have called for help when he realized the card was wrong.
“Instead, he panicked. He froze. And then he did the thing that no one should ever do. He asked Faye Dunaway for help,” he wrote. “Don’t ever ask Faye Dunaway for help because, given her reputation in Tinseltown, she’s going to offer it anyway.”
The column concludes: “All in all, a horrific night for the acting profession. But Beatty could have prevented the whole thing with a simple call for help. And then we’d all be talking about ‘Moonlight’ instead of Warren Beatty.”