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What began as mere backstage gossip swiftly escalated into a full-blown urban legend that alleged Jack Palance had read the wrong name from the open envelope. Despite the rapid spread of this theory, it was firmly debunked by the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, which clarified that their two accountants were present to ensure accuracy and would intervene if any mistake were made. The Academy defended Tomei’s win, but that did little to quell the speculation. As publications like Entertainment Weekly noted, much of the skepticism stemmed from an industry bias that found it hard to accept that a comedic performance could garner such recognition over more traditional dramatic fare.