Woman featured in the Oscars' 'in memoriam' segment says 'I am alive and well'


The Moonlight Best Picture flub is not the only Oscars moment that could have given you brutal second-hand embarrassment on Sunday night. Producer Jan Chapman was pictured in the night's "in memoriam" section honoring actors and crew who passed away in the past year, but she is "alive and well and an active producer," she told Variety.
The moment was intended to honor four-time Oscar nominee Janet Patterson, a costume designer. The image alongside Patterson's name, however, was Chapman's:
"I was devastated by the use of my image in place of my great friend and long-time 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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Chapman and Patterson worked together on the 1993 film The Piano. The Academy has not yet commented on its mistake.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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