Accountant Brian Cullinan was told not to use social media during the Oscars — despite tweeting a photo of Emma Stone just moments before handing Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway the wrong envelope for Best Picture, PEOPLE has confirmed. 
 
 In the now-deleted tweet, Cullinan – one of two accountants from PricewaterhouseCoopers who handled the Oscars balloting – shared a photo of the Best Actress winner smiling while holding her award backstage. The time stamp shows it was posted at 9:05 p.m., only minutes before the Best Picture blunder occurred. 
 
 “Brian was asked not to tweet or use social media during the show,” a source tells PEOPLE. “He was fine to tweet before he arrived at the red carpet but once he was under the auspices of the Oscar night job, that was to be his only focus.” 
 
 The source continued, “Tweeting right before the Best Picture category was announced was not something that should have happened.” 
 
 The source added that it’s unclear whether the Academy will end its 83-year relationship with the accounting firm after the mix-up. 
 
 “The Academy has launched a full-scale review of its relationship with PwC but it is very complicated,” the source said. “Vote-tallying and the Oscar night job is just one part of what PwC does with the Academy. It is too early to say how this will play out but everyone is of course taking it very very seriously.” 
 
 Christopher Polk/Getty 
 
 Cullinan has not publicly commented or posted on his Twitter account since the blunder, although his PwC partner Martha Ruiz shared a selfie from the red carpet with Cullinan and Michael Strahan after the accounting firm took responsibility for the error. 
 
 PwC, the accounting firm that counts and delivers the winning Oscars envelopes, has publicly taken the blame for the incident in which La La Land was called as the Best Picture winner over the actual honoree, Moonlight. It confirmed that Cullinan mistakenly handed the presenters the duplicate Best Actress envelope instead of the Best Picture. 
 
 Cullinan and Martha Ruiz were the representatives from PwC tasked with figuring out the Oscar winners and bringing the sealed envelopes containing the well-guarded secrets to the awards show. Two PwC staffers previously told MarketWatch that for security, there are “two briefcases, that are identical, and we have two entire sets of winning envelopes.” 
 
 During the show, the two take their places on opposite sides of the stage, handing presenters their cards (depending on which side they enter from). 
 
 On top of admitting fault in the error, PwC also said that Cullinan and Ruiz did not follow protocol for correcting the error “quickly enough.” They only appeared onstage after multiple La La Land creators gave speeches – more than two minutes after La La Land was incorrectly named the winner. 
 
 Ahead of the show, both Ruiz and Cullinan seemed assured that no mistake of that kind would be made. 
 
 Cullinan told The Huffington Post before the ceremony that if a wrong winner were to be called, “We would make sure that the correct person was known very quickly. Whether that entails stopping the show, us walking onstage, us signaling to the stage manager — that’s really a game-time decision, if something like that were to happen. ” 
 
 He added, “Again, it’s so unlikely.” ||||| UPDATED: Unlike most accountants, PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ Brian Cullinan enjoyed the spotlight. He commonly tweeted selfies with celebrities and relished his trips down the red carpet at the Academy Awards. 
 
 Before he became famous for his involvement in handing over the wrong envelope on Sunday’s telecast, he’d been angling for a spot on the stage. Cullinan had pitched Oscar producers on doing a sketch involving him and his colleague Martha Ruiz, interacting with host Jimmy Kimmel, according to two sources with knowledge of the exchange. But the idea was shot down. 
 
 A representative from PwC denied that Cullinan wanted to perform a skit, but said that he met with the show’s producers to discuss a possible onstage appearance. 
 
 In past years, the Oscars accountants were sometimes introduced on TV, with their briefcases in tow, to explain their role in keeping the Oscar winners safe. Last year, Chris Rock parodied that tradition: He introduced three Asian-American kids as pint-sized accountants, which some viewers interpreted as offensive. The moment caught PwC executives by surprise, as they hadn’t been informed about the routine. 
 
 “It is standard protocol for PwC to have conversations with the show’s producers about the firm’s involvement in the show,” a representative from PwC told Variety in a statement. “After last year’s sketch when the firm was cast in a defamatory way in front of millions of people, Brian Cullinan spoke with the producers to ensure that the firm would not be cast in the same light. Brian did not want to perform a sketch during the show.” 
 
 In recent days, there have been questions about what led to the embarrassing finale of Sunday’s Oscars. In the minutes prior to best-picture category, when Cullinan was supposed to be giving the best picture envelope to presenter Warren Beatty, he seemed distracted. He was taking photos on his phone of Emma Stone with her best-actress trophy that he tweeted out. 
 
 Beatty received the wrong envelope and his co-presenter Faye Dunaway accidentally named “La La Land”—instead of real winner “Moonlight”— as best picture. When the mistake was corrected three minutes later, it was because of a stagehand, not the PwC accountants, who are supposed to memorize all the winners and storm the stage in the unlikely occurrence of a mix-up. 
 
 PwC has apologized for the mistake. Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs told the Associated Press that Cullinan and Ruiz wouldn’t work on the Oscars again. “They have one job to do. One job to do! Obviously there was a distraction,” Boone Isaacs said. 
 
 It’s unclear if the Academy will continue to employ the accounting firm, which has an 83-year relationship with the nonprofit organization. Isaacs sent a letter to Academy members Thursday assuring, “Rest assured changes will be implemented to ensure this never happens again.” ||||| FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2017 file photo, Cheryl Boone Isaacs arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Boone Isaacs says the two accountants responsible for... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2017 file photo, Cheryl Boone Isaacs arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Boone Isaacs says the two accountants responsible for the best picture mistake will not work the Oscars again. Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz were responsible... (Associated Press) 
 
 LOS ANGELES (AP) — The president of the film academy says the two accountants responsible for the best-picture flub at Sunday's Academy Awards will never work the Oscars again. 
 
 Cheryl Boone Isaacs said Wednesday that Brian Cullinan, the PwC representative responsible for handing over the errant envelope that led to "La La Land" mistakenly being announced as best picture rather than "Moonlight," was distracted backstage. He tweeted (and later deleted) a photo of Emma Stone in the wings with her new Oscar minutes before giving presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway the wrong envelope for best picture. 
 
 Cullinan and his colleague, Martha Ruiz, have been permanently removed from all film academy dealings, Boone Isaacs said. 
 
 The academy president broke her silence four days after the biggest blunder in the 89-year history of the Academy Awards. She told The Associated Press that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' relationship with PwC, which has been responsible for tallying and revealing Oscar winners for 83 years, remains under review. 
 
 PwC released a statement late Sunday and another Monday taking "full responsibility for the series of mistakes and breaches of established protocols" during the Oscar show. The company did not immediately respond to email and phone messages sent Wednesday. 
 
 Though the academy released a statement late Monday apologizing to the artists of "Moonlight" and "La La Land," Boone Isaacs said she waited to say more until her team had a better understanding of what led to the error. 
 
 She praised presenters Beatty and Dunaway, and host Jimmy Kimmel for gracefully taking charge of the situation. She also lauded "La La Land" producer Jordan Horowitz, whom she said "went from a nominee to a winner to a presenter in a matter of minutes." 
 
 Horowitz, still holding the Oscar he thought he'd won, was the first to announce that "Moonlight" was the actual winner. 
 
 Boone Isaacs lamented that "the last 90 seconds" of the telecast have overshadowed what she described as "the most brilliant and wonderful show." 
 
 Also on Wednesday, the academy addressed another embarrassment on Sunday's show, apologizing to the Australian movie producer it incorrectly displayed during the in memoriam segment. 
 
 In a statement, the academy extended "our deepest apologies" to producer Jan Chapman, whose photo was mistakenly used in the tribute instead of Chapman's colleague and friend, the late Janet Patterson. Chapman had said she was "devastated" by the error. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Follow AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen at www.twitter.com/APSandy . ||||| PricewaterhouseCoopers representatives Martha Ruiz and Brian Cullinan attend the 89th Academy Awards on Feb. 26, 2017. (Photo: Christopher Polk, Getty Images) 
 
 The accountants did it? 
 
 We all watched in shock as it happened. Now we know exactly what happened. 
 
 PricewaterhouseCoopers, which has handled the accounting for the Academy Awards since 1934, early Monday apologized for giving the wrong envelope to presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway before the two actors erroneously announced La La Land as best picture at Sunday night's Oscars. In actuality, Moonlight won the top prize. 
 
 In Beatty's hand was a spare best actress envelope. Emma Stone had already been given her winning envelope, but two sets are printed, one for each of the two PwC representatives who wait in the wings to distribute the envelopes to presenters. 
 
 "At the end of the day, we made a human error," Tim Ryan, U.S. chairman and senior partner of PwC told USA TODAY on Monday. "We made a mistake. What happened was, our partner on the left side of the stage, Brian Cullinan, he handed the wrong envelope to Warren Beatty. And then the second we realized that, we notified the appropriate parties and corrected the mistake." 
 
 But several speeches by La La Land producers had already been given, and celebrating was underway. 
 
 "We apologize to the cast of La La Land for having to have made those speeches in the time that it took to (correct it)," says Ryan. "Immediately when it was announced, again, because of our mistake, both our partners who knew who the winner was — and they’re the only two who know — they realized the mistake had been made and they began to notify the appropriate people. 
 
 "It was a little chaotic and just took time to get out onstage and let people know that the mistake was made. And unfortunately that took enough time to get through two-and-a-half acceptance speeches." 
 
 It's puzzling because the Oscar process — counting the votes, determining the winners, filling the envelopes, packing two briefcases, toting them to the ceremony, handing the envelopes to presenters — is long-established. 
 
 Prior to the Oscars, Cullinan, a managing partner at PwC, and Martha Ruiz, a tax partner at PwC, described how the winning envelopes are handled. 
 
 As 'La La Land' filmmakers accept the award, PricewaterhouseCoopers' Brian Cullinan, holding red envelope, and Martha Ruiz, in red dress, and a stage manager examine the envelope with the wrong winner for best picture, which was 'Moonlight.' (Photo: Chris Pizzello, Invision/AP) 
 
 After voting closes a week before the live Oscars telecast, accountants start tabulating, which takes about three days. Secrecy and accuracy are the watchwords. "While we have a team counting the ballots, none of our team members see more than a portion of the ballots in any category. The final tabulation of the winners is only done by the two of us," Cullinan and Ruiz wrote at The Huffington Post. 
 
 They check and recheck, identify the names with the highest number of votes in each category, and insert two sets of the cards declaring the winners into sealed envelopes, which are secured in a secret location until they are brought to the show. 
 
 "At the event, we are both backstage to hand the envelopes to the presenters. We also memorize Every. Single. Winner. In. Every. Single. Category. The winners’ names are not typed into a computer or written down, to avoid potential lost slips of paper or breaches of security," Cullinan and Ruiz explained. 
 
 CLOSE USA TODAY's Bryan Alexander and Carly Mallenbaum give their observations on the Oscar best picture mixup. Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY 
 
 Here's where it gets even more fascinating, considering Sunday's flub: It could only have been a PricewaterhouseCoopers rep who gave the wrong envelope to Beatty and Dunaway. 
 
 Backstage, Cullinan and Ruiz "hand each envelope directly to the presenter in each category. We are positioned on either side of the stage, so we can hand envelopes from stage right or stage left." 
 
 Ryan says he has apologized to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and is contacting the producers of La La Land and Moonlight. 
 
 "I have spoken with the Academy and expressed our apologies and accountability, and I am in the process of reaching out to the other affected parties," said the PwC chairman. "That has not happened yet, but I am in the process of doing that." 
 
 But not to worry, says Anthony Sabino, a law professor at St. John’s University’s Peter J. Tobin College of Business. It was a "black eye" for PwC, but black eyes heal. He predicts no long-lasting effects. 
 
 "While all the facts are not in yet, it would appear to be simple human error," Sabino says. "After decades of flawless performance, it was bound to happen eventually. For an event as complex and as secretive as the Academy Awards, PwC's sterling record still stands out.” 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2lNl5A5 ||||| One of two accounting honchos in charge of handing out the winners’ envelopes at the Oscars Sunday night jinxed himself in an interview earlier this month. 
 
 “It doesn’t sound very complicated, but you have to make sure you give the presenter the right envelope,” Brian Cullinan, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, told the website Medium in a story published Feb. 10. 
 
 “We check things dozens of times, recounts and double-checks,” Cullinan said. “We’ll have staff go back two and three times to make sure, and then [PWC partner] Martha [Ruiz] and I will review and recount to ensure there are no differences between what we have and they had. So far, there’s never been a problem.” 
 
 Cullinan was standing stage right during the ceremony holding a briefcase that contained the 24 envelopes of the winners. His PWC partner, Martha Ruiz, was stage left holding another briefcase with an identical set of envelopes. The pair would take turns handing them out to presenters as they alternately took the stage from either side. 
 
 For the final award — Best Picture — presenter Warren Beatty entered from stage right, Cullinan’s side. 
 
 Only Beatty was given the wrong envelope, a monumental flub that led to the incorrect winner being named. 
 
 Before the glaring glitch, Cullinan had posted scores of photos taken backstage at the Oscars. 
 
 After his bosses at PWC issued a mea culpa for the company’s mistake, all of his Oscar night tweets were scrubbed.
– The PwC accountant whose backstage tweet may have distracted him enough to cause the biggest flub in Oscars history was specifically asked not to tweet during the awards show, a source tells People. "Brian [Cullinan] was asked not to tweet or use social media during the show. He was fine to tweet before he arrived at the red carpet, but once he was under the auspices of the Oscar night job, that was to be his only focus," the source says. "Tweeting right before the Best Picture category was announced was not something that should have happened." The tweet in question, along with others from backstage, have since been deleted. PwC said in a statement Monday night that "once the error occurred, protocols for correcting it were not followed through quickly enough by Mr. Cullinan or his partner," per Us. Meanwhile, the Academy continues to investigate the incident and its relationship with PwC; the Telegraph reports the accounting firm is in "crisis meetings" with the Academy in an attempt to salvage the 83-year-long relationship between the two. Sources tell Deadline one possible change being discussed is adding two more PwC auditors backstage, one on each side of the stage, so that the extra auditor could act as a fail-safe in case the first auditor hands a presenter the wrong envelope again. As for whether the Academy might sever its relationship with PwC entirely, a source tells People the issue is "very complicated" because "vote-tallying and the Oscar night job is just one part of what PwC does with the Academy." Page Six points out that, in an interview earlier this month, Cullinan had noted, "It doesn’t sound very complicated, but you have to make sure you give the presenter the right envelope."