PwC accountants receive death threats over Oscars blunder

NOT only have two PwC accountants been banned from the Oscars for their epic stuff-up, they now need bodyguards.

Martha L. Ruiz, left, and Brian Cullinan from PricewaterhouseCoopers at the Oscars. Picture: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File

NOT only have two PricewaterhouseCoopers accountants been banned from the Oscars for their epic blunder, they’re now getting death threats.

Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz, who were behind the Best Picture stuff-up at the Academy Awards, have been assigned bodyguards after their personal information was posted online, NBC News reports.

Some of the social media threats included, “You f****** idiot, i will f*** you every day” ... and “I hope you get fired and get cancer.”

Sources told TMZ that PwC execs became worried when pictures of Ms Ruiz’s and Mr Cullinan’s homes surfaced online.

PwC told NBC News it was providing security to protect Ms Ruiz and Mr Cullinan, who remain with the company and “are not going anywhere”.

Martha Ruiz and Brian Cullinan have been banned from the Oscars. Picture: AFP/Valerie Macon

Although their employer is sticking by the accountants, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is not.

Cheryl Boone Isaacs told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Ms Ruiz and Mr Cullinan have been permanently removed from all academy activities. She said they will never work at the Oscars again.

She also said the Academy was reviewing its relationship with PwC, which has been responsible for counting and safeguarding the Oscar results for 83 years.

Red carpet highlights

The PwC accountants were responsible for the winners’ envelopes at the Oscars.

Mr Cullinan tweeted a photo of Emma Stone from backstage minutes before handing presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway the wrong envelope for best picture. Ms Boone Isaacs said Cullinan’s distraction caused the error.

According to People magazine, Mr Cullinan defied orders not to tweet during the ceremony.

“Brian was asked not to tweet or use social media during the show,’’ a source said told People.

“He was fine to tweet before he arrived at the red carpet, but once he was under the auspices of the Oscar-night job, that was to be his only focus.’’

La La Land producer Fred Berger speaks at the microphone as production staff and representatives from PricewaterhouseCoopers, Martha L. Ruiz and Brian Cullinan, consult behind him regarding a presentation error of the Best Picture award. Picture: Getty

Mr Cullinan has copped most of the blame for the incident after he was named and shamed by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ US Chairman, Tim Ryan, in a statement earlier in the week.

“At the end of the day, we made a human error,” Ryan told USA Today.

“We made a mistake. What happened was, our partner on the left side of the stage, Brian Cullinan, he handed the wrong envelope to Warren Beatty. And then the second we realised that, we notified the appropriate parties and corrected the mistake.”

Star style

Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel joked about the debacle on his talk show, saying: “Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway — it was the 50th anniversary of Bonnie and Clyde, and they played Bonnie and Clyde, so the academy asked them to present best picture.

“In retrospect now, what we know is what Warren did is, he was confused, so he handed it to Faye and let her read it. In other words, Clyde threw Bonnie under the bus.”

Kimmel also praised the La La Land crew for the way they handled the epic blunder on the night.

“The producers of La La Land were very gracious, which they did not have to be, onstage and off,” the comedian said.

“They were very nice. They handled it well. It was a very amicable custody arrangement — they didn’t ask for visitation or anything.”

Originally published as PwC accountants receive death threats over Oscars blunder