--- title: Jimmy Kimmel Reveals True Hero of Oscars Best Picture Mix-Up description: As the host of the 2017 Oscars, Jimmy Kimmel was responsible for setting things straight following the Best Picture envelope mix-up. canonical: https://time.com/5179239/jimmy-kimmel-oscars-2017-best-picture-mix-up-hero/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-28T17:35:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:51:00.259Z og:title: Jimmy Kimmel on the Hero of the Oscars Best Picture Mix-Up og:description: Kimmel got a helping hand from one of the Best Actor nominees og:url: https://time.com/5179239/jimmy-kimmel-oscars-2017-best-picture-mix-up-hero/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa7cff4745e9718f/69892928656a3f4f03bd3b29/jimmy-kimmel-2017-oscars-best-picture-mix-up.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: 89th Annual Academy Awards Best Picture Mix-Up og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jimmy Kimmel on the Hero of the Oscars Best Picture Mix-Up twitter:description: Kimmel got a helping hand from one of the Best Actor nominees twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa7cff4745e9718f/69892928656a3f4f03bd3b29/jimmy-kimmel-2017-oscars-best-picture-mix-up.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jimmy Kimmel Reveals the True Hero of the 2017 Oscars Best Picture Mix-Up > Sponsored content. 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Kevin Winter/Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Feb 28, 2018 5:35 PM UTC As the host of the 2017 Oscars, [Jimmy Kimmel](http://time.com/5177941/ellen-degeneres-jimmy-kimmel-son-dedication/) was responsible for setting things straight following the [envelope mix-up](http://time.com/4687744/the-accountants-responsible-for-the-best-picture-mishap-wont-be-allowed-to-work-the-oscars-again/) that resulted in [_La La Land_](http://time.com/4683534/oscars-2017-la-la-land-stars-reactions/)being announced as Best Picture instead of [_Moonlight_](http://time.com/4683998/oscars-2017-moonlight-la-la-land-mix-up/). However, in a recent interview with [_People_](http://people.com/movies/jimmy-kimmel-reveals-what-he-was-really-thinking-during-last-years-oscar-envelopegate/), the late-night pundit revealed that it was Denzel Washington who helped him find his bearings in the midst of the tricky situation. “I was sitting with [Matt Damon](http://time.com/4473441/jimmy-kimmel-matt-damon-feud-history-timeline/) (in the audience), and when we determined that something was awry, I thought somebody’s gotta go up there and say something,” Kimmel said of the moment _La La Land_ producer Jordan Horowitz announced _Moonlight_ as the true winner. “I thought, ‘Oh, I’m the only one who has a microphone on, so it should probably be me.” Kimmel went on to explain how Washington prompted him to allow _Moonlight_ director Barry Jenkins to properly accept the award. “I strolled up onstage, looked around to see what was happening and made a couple of jokes to try to settle things down,” he said. “Denzel Washington actually gave me a signal to let the guys from _Moonlight_ speak, which made sense. Luckily Denzel was thinking, because I really wasn’t…It was like I was walking around in a dream.” Kimmel is also the host of this year’s Oscars ceremony, which will air Sunday at 8 p.m live on ABC. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5179239/jimmy-kimmel-oscars-2017-best-picture-mix-up-hero/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5179239/jimmy-kimmel-oscars-2017-best-picture-mix-up-hero/"},"headline":"Jimmy Kimmel Reveals the True Hero of the 2017 Oscars Best Picture Mix-Up","datePublished":"2018-02-28T17:35:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:51:00.259Z","description":"Kimmel got a helping hand from one of the Best Actor nominees","url":"https://time.com/5179239/jimmy-kimmel-oscars-2017-best-picture-mix-up-hero/","keywords":["Newsfeed","awards","Oscars","Jimmy Kimmel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa7cff4745e9718f/69892928656a3f4f03bd3b29/jimmy-kimmel-2017-oscars-best-picture-mix-up.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa7cff4745e9718f/69892928656a3f4f03bd3b29/jimmy-kimmel-2017-oscars-best-picture-mix-up.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"89th Annual Academy Awards Best Picture Mix-Up","caption":"89th Annual Academy Awards Best Picture Mix-Up","creditText":"Kevin Winter/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5179239/jimmy-kimmel-oscars-2017-best-picture-mix-up-hero/","name":"Jimmy Kimmel Reveals the True Hero of the 2017 Oscars Best Picture Mix-Up"}}]}] ```