Warren Beatty says controversy over Oscars mix-up is 'silly'

Warren Beatty believes the fuss surrounding the mix-up at this year's Oscars was "silly".

The 80-year-old actor and Faye Dunaway mistakenly handed the Academy Award for Best Picture to La La Land instead of the intended recipient Moonlight during the ceremony in February - but Beatty thinks far too much has been made of the embarrassing incident.

He told ITV's Lorraine: "It seemed kind of silly. It struck me [as] kind of funny that this moment was so overly dramatised, you know. But then stuff happens."

Beatty explained that the awkward incident was the result of a simple mistake made by one individual.

"Some poor guy made a mistake, gave me the wrong [envelope]."

In fact, Beatty was recently hailed as the "unsung hero" of the awards ceremony by Oscars producer Michael De Luca.

Beatty and Dunaway were both blameless parties in the gaffe, according to De Luca, who said Beatty did his best to avoid the memorably awkward situation when he suspected there may have been a problem.

Referring to when Beatty hesitated and showed Dunaway the card with the winner's name, he said: "I actually think Warren Beatty is the unsung hero here, completely heroic. I think he was showing her [Dunaway] the card, like, 'Hey are you seeing what I'm seeing? I think a mistake's been made here.' To me, they are heroes and completely in the clear."

De Luca also suggested PricewaterhouseCoopers accountant Brian Cullinan, who handed Warren the wrong envelope, and his colleague Martha Ruiz, could have done more to smooth things over.

He explained: "If I was in that job, and I know I'm Monday morning quarterbacking, which I detest, but I feel like if it's my one job, if I heard the wrong name, I'd walk directly to Warren Beatty and say, 'You got the wrong envelope, here's the right envelope,' and make a charming moment out of it."

- BANG! Showbiz