An overflowing toilet at the Dolby Theater caused staff at the 85th Academy Awards to go on the offensive in an effort to regain control of a flooding corridor, corralling movie stars and their guests away from the potential wardrobe-ruining incident and in the process creating moment where the Oscar statuettes were left in a not-so-tightly guarded situation.
The leaky commode left a section of the theater's second flood carpet soaked just 45 minutes before the awards show was meant to begin Sunday night, prompting a barrage of theatre staff to rush to fix the mess, several reports indicated.
Photos posted to Twitter show tuxedoed men using machines to dry and clean a soaked patch of green and tan colored carpet.
No clothing was reported wet or damaged.
A report by TMZ said the leak was caused when someone "unloaded" in one of the toilets in the women's restroom. The Los Angeles Fire Department reportedly said the cause of the flood was unknown. The Daily Mail reported "repeated flushing" as the cause, citing an unnamed source.
Attendees were shuttled from the second-floor bar down to the ground level while the mess was cleaned up.
The clean-up complicated the awards ceremony's security procedures, too.
When a cart full of Oscar trophies was taken backstage a door that was meant to be locked was found open, The Los Angeles Times reported.
"The guys who lock that door are involved in a flood in the bathroom," a crew person informed the people delivering the statuettes, according to The Times.
The awards ceremony went on with no mention of the mini-flood, even by the show's host Seth MacFarlane, who's comedic style would have played well to some literal toilet humor.
Photos of the flood were posted on The Daily Mail and can be seen here.
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