So, after Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty announced “La La Land” won best picture — the trophy was supposed to go to “Moonlight” — and the musical’s team arrived onstage to collect the award, Kimmel recalled that he saw a sudden commotion as the stage manager appeared. Damon apparently turned to Kimmel and said, “I think I heard the stage manager say they got the winner wrong.”

“You figure, well, you know, the host will go onstage and clear this up,” Kimmel told his late-night audience. “Then I remember, ‘Oh. I’m the host.’ ”

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Kimmel replayed footage of “La La Land” producer Jordan Horowitz, fresh off his acceptance speech, abruptly announcing that there was a mistake: “Moonlight” was the actual best picture winner.

“It was kind of scary, in a way,” Kimmel said. “That was the producer of ‘La La Land’ who thought he won, standing there holding an Oscar they’re going to take away from him. My first instinct was to tell him to run. ‘Take the Oscar and get out!’ But he didn’t.”

Kimmel added, “Now there’s mass confusion. The audience is confused. The people standing around me are confused. I assume everyone at home is confused. And I’m probably supposed to do something, because no one’s doing anything.”

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Cue more footage of Beatty trying to clear up what happened — he said that the card in the envelope read “Emma Stone, ‘La La Land,’ ” which is why Dunaway read the wrong name. In the meantime, the cast and crew of “Moonlight” arrived onstage.

“Now so we have the producers of two movies onstage,” Kimmel continued. “Who the hell even knows who is who from which movie? I’m standing there like an idiot, feeling bad for these guys — but also trying really hard not to laugh, to be honest.”

While it might be funny at some point, it certainly didn’t feel amusing in the moment. Kimmel said that after “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins spoke, everyone was still shell-shocked. After Kimmel wrapped up the show and walked offstage, people started asking him if it was all a prank. A reasonable question, given his history of practical jokes.

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“I was like, ‘Hey, no, I didn’t! I did not pull a prank!'” Kimmel protested. “If I’d pulled a prank, I wouldn’t have just had the wrong winner’s name on the envelope. There would have been a Bed Bath & Beyond coupon in there.”

Anyway, Kimmel noted that the “La La Land” producers were very gracious about handing over their Oscars: “They handled it well. It was a very amicable custody arrangement. They didn’t ask for visitation or anything.”

Later backstage in the greenroom, Beatty insisted on showing Kimmel that he really was given the wrong card. “You know, when you do a show, you aren’t just the host, you’re the lead detective. You’re like the sheriff of the show,” Kimmel explained. “Warren Beatty could be in prison right now if I wanted him.”

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Ultimately, Kimmel concluded, it wasn’t Beatty’s fault. As everyone learned, there were two copies of the winner cards (“just to make it more confusing”) and Beatty and Dunaway were given the envelope for best actress. Kimmel added that the accountants in charge of the ballots apologized Monday and took the blame.

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Meanwhile, after the incident, Dunaway made a quick getaway from the stage, a smart move. (In fact, she headed to the Vanity Fair Oscar party.)

“I spent the whole rest of the night answering questions about it,” Kimmel said. “It was quite an evening, it really was.”

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