The Oscars mistakenly used a photo of a living person in its tribute to dead movie talents

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janet patterson jan chapman oscars in memoriam abc

ABC

The image of Jan Chapman was mistakenly used to represent the late costume designer, Janet Patterson.

You can add another gaffe to Sunday's wild Oscars ceremony.

While every year viewers and fans closely watch the awards show's "In Memoriam" tribute for the people it doesn't include who died over the past year, rarely do we see the awards accidentally include a person who is still alive.

During Sunday's "In Memoriam" segment, the producers mistakenly used a photo of a living woman for Janet Patterson, a four-time Oscar nominee for costume design who died last October.

The photo used was of Jan Chapman, a producer who has worked on several critically acclaimed movies. She was nominated for an Oscar for the 1993 film "The Piano."

"I was devastated by the use of my image in place of my great friend and longtime collaborator Janet Patterson," Chapman told Variety. "I had urged her agency to check any photograph which might be used and understand that they were told that the Academy had it covered. Janet was a great beauty and four-time Oscar nominee and it is very disappointing that the error was not picked up."

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The Oscar producers may have made the mistake due to Patterson and Chapman having both worked on "The Piano," as well as the 2009 period romance film "Bright Star."

An ABC representative didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on the mistaken photo.

As for who was left out from the "In Memoriam" tribute this year, The Hollywood Reporter found four omissions: actors Garry Shandling, Doris Roberts, and Robert Vaughn, and producer and director Dan Ireland.

President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. used the mistake to chime in with his thoughts about the Oscars on Twitter, saying, "Interesting mistake, its almost like Hollywood doesn't really care about the little people behind the scenes..."

 

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