Busy Philipps Pleaded with Ben Affleck’s Batman to Rescue Oscars Mixup

Brace yourselves for another benchmark in Hollywood chaos: Busy Philipps actually told Ben Affleck to “Do something!” when the 2017 Oscars Best Picture announcement imploded. During a recent QVC+ HSN+ chat with Michelle Williams, Philipps—who sits through more A-list events than most of us experience in a lifetime—revisited that classic red-carpet train wreck where Warren Beatty mistakenly declared La La Land the winner instead of Moonlight.

Philipps paints a delightfully grueling picture: hours of sitting under relentless lights, subsisting on scant sips and snacks, and staring in disbelief as the biggest live TV gaffe in Academy Awards history unfolded mere feet away. “You’re there, just witnessing it, the chaos,” she deadpanned, confirming our suspicions that Oscar night glamour is code for “starvation and stage panic.”

According to Philipps, she, Williams and Affleck were crammed into the front row when the presenter fumbled the envelope. They saw the real winner printed in black and white—Moonlight—while Beatty shouted La La Land. Cameras caught the trio’s “Did that really just happen?” expressions, and Philipps later owned up to whispering to Affleck, “Do something! Do something!” Michelle Williams cracked that she expected him to swoop in because, “He was Batman,” and you can almost hear Philipps nodding her agreement.

Yes, because whenever Hollywood glitches you call on a caped crusader. Heroic as the notion seemed, Affleck couldn’t hop the rail in a utility belt and rectify live TV. Nearby, Matt Damon probably looked on wondering how his buddy became everyone’s last-ditch crisis manager.

The duo then cheekily recreated that now-viral photo of them reacting to the fiasco—proof that nothing says “iconic Oscar moment” like stunned celebs in formalwear. Philipps also reminded us of her 2017 Instagram Story, where a frantic stage manager kneeled before Casey Affleck to whisper, “It’s a mistake! Moonlight is Best Picture!” The whisper reached the front row only, leaving the rest of the Dolby Theatre blissfully ignorant until producers finally scrambled to call up the Moonlight cast.

In the end, Affleck’s bat-signal went unanswered, but Hollywood’s highest honor still found its rightful home. And yes, Busy Philipps will never let Ben Affleck—or Batman—live that night down.

So there you have it—a perfect lesson in expecting capes to save live television. You’re welcome.

Sources: Celebrity Storm and People Magazine, Dotdash Meredith
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed