The Oscars

"Gary from Chicago" -- the tourist who unknowingly crashed the Oscars with his fiancee -- was in prison as a third striker with a history of stealing ... TMZ has learned.

Gary Alan Coe -- who said he had been in jail for the last 20 years before Sunday night's award show -- was received by California Department of Corrections in 1994 for grand theft exceeding $400, and got locked up again in '97 for petty theft with priors ... and, because it was his third strike, it led to a sentence of 25 years to life with parole.

Law enforcement sources tell us he was resentenced in early 2017 under Proposition 36, and had his 25 year bid reduced to just 6. With pre-sentencing credits and time served ... he walked out a free man last Thursday.

One last detail ... Coe's attorney says he has a prior from 1975 for attempted rape when he was a teenager that required him to register as a sex offender ... but the 20 year sentence was for theft.

"Gary from Chicago" -- the tourist who stole the show at the Oscars -- was released from prison 3 days before he was hanging out with Denzel Washington and kissing Meryl Streep.

Gary Alan Coe did 20 years in the California prison system ... according to WLS TV, and just got out last week. Gary reportedly was in for committing multiple felonies -- he wasn't more specific about his crimes, but said he met his fiancee, Vickie, while in the pen.

Even though Gary and Vickie live in California now, he's a Chicago native and he's become the toast of the town. The Bulls offered him tickets and Gino's East wants to hook him up with free pizza.

The Denzel moment was cool and all, but Gary says he and Vickie are still planning a real wedding this summer.

Donald Trump's finally weighing in on the Oscars, and thinks the whole Best Picture snafu happened because the show's producers were busy throwing insults at him.

The prez says "I think they were focused so hard on politics they they didn't get the act together at the end." It was Trump's first comment on the award show and he wasted no time jabbing back at the production.

He told Breitbart News, "It didn't feel like a very glamorous evening. I've been to the Oscars. There was something very special missing, and then to end that way was sad."

As Trump's shots go it was pretty subtle, but sure seems like he was paying attention to Jimmy Kimmel mocking him during the show, and the epic screwup at the end.

This is the guy who we're told is responsible for the biggest screwup in Oscar history ... the guy who handed Warren Beatty the wrong envelope.

His name -- Brian Cullinan -- an accountant at Pricewaterhouse. He's a veteran ... 30 years at the accounting firm.

Here's the thing ... Brian was supposed to discard the spare Best Actress envelope and hand Warren Best Picture.

As for why ... we know this. Brian was tweeting like crazy during the ceremony, posting photos ... so he may have been distracted. Brian has since deleted the tweets, but one was a pic of Emma Stone with her Oscar. If it was tweeted right after her win, that's exactly when Brian should've been prepping for the next category ... Best Picture.

No word on whether discipline is in store.

We're told the firm is issuing an apology to all concerned.

Warren Beatty ain't the first guy to announce the wrong winner during a live TV event -- it also happened to Bruce Buffer at UFC 205 ... and now he's got some advice for the Hollywood legend.

Remember, Buffer incorrectly told Tyron Woodley he was the winner during his UFC 205 matchup versus Stephen Thompson ... and announced the wrong information to a live audience.

When Buffer got the right info (the fight was a majority draw) he collected himself and announced the correction.

So, when Buffer saw Beatty's screwup at the Oscars -- he felt his pain and knew right away it WAS NOT Warren's fault.

Buffer also has some advice for ALL people making announcements on live TV ... so the 2018 Oscar hosts better pay attention.

"Moonlight" star Ashton Sanders says everything happens for a reason ... INCLUDING that epic Best Picture screwup at the Oscars.

Ashton -- who plays the teenage version of the main character -- was getting the hell outta la la land Monday at LAX ... when we asked if the mistaken announcement put a damper on his movie's win.

Warren Beatty gave Faye Dunaway what she demanded during rehearsal ... the honor of reading the winner of Best Picture, and he watched as she failed in spectacular fashion.

Sources who were present at Saturday's rehearsal tell us, both Faye and Warren wanted to announce the winner and went back and forth, but eventually Warren backed off and Faye got her way.

In fact, we're told their rehearsal was contentious from start to finish ... they wouldn't go onstage together to block their walkout ... they did it separately.

Watch the clip closely ... you see Faye angling to get the envelope as Warren tries to make sense of it ... as if she fears he might jack the moment and read it himself. Warren didn't warn her ... he just passed the envelope.

And watch how quickly Faye reads the winner ... it's almost as if she worried Warren would beat her to the punch. It's pretty apparent ... Warren knew something was wrong and she just jumped.

We've reached out to Faye and Warren's reps for comment ... so far, no word back.

It took more than 2 minutes for the crowd at the Oscars to realize "La La Land" did NOT win Best Picture, and the looks on their faces in the moment speak volumes.

Take a look at the instant everyone noticed Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway and/or Oscars producers screwed the pooch by announcing the wrong Best Pic winner.

Justin Bieber passed on a tux, a suit and tie or even a blazer for an Oscar after-party he attended ... opting instead for Old Navy.

Paps got the Biebs Sunday night outside of the Vanity Fair Oscar party in Bev Hills, and he looked ... well, about as dressed up as you'd expect.

Ryan Gosling laughed off the epic Best Picture screwup ... genuinely finding it hysterical.

Check out his expressions as defeat was snatched out of the hands of victory.

Vanity Fair flexed some serious muscles for its after-party ... with one huge celeb after another rolling through.

Warren Beatty's got a new BFF Monday morning -- Steve Harvey's suddenly showing him all kinds of love for giving people a new epic live TV blunder to harp on, instead of Steve's.

Steve shared his perspective on the Oscars Best Picture screwup ... which, of course, reminded everyone of Steve's historic Miss Universe screwup.

The botched Best Picture screwup was the only thing celebs like James Marsden, Lisa Bonet, Alice Eve and others were talking about after the Oscars.

We got 'em all over town, and we'll say this ... the Oscar for Best Reaction to an Oscar Screwup goes to Sting and Trudie Styler!

Warren Beatty brought proof to the Governors Ball HE didn't screw up the Oscars ... but the proof fell a tad short.

Warren hobnobbed with a slew of stars, envelope in hand, showing everyone the envelope he was given was for Best Actress. Thing is ... had he looked, it would have been apparent from the get-go.

Emma Stone only rolls with the best ... and it doesn't get any better than an Oscar and a wave of her smoking hot friends!

The Best Actress winner -- gold statue in hand -- was leaving the "La La Land" after-party at the SoHo Sunday night. You gotta see the line of beauties hopping into their waiting ride.

T.O. got jokes.

After that epic Oscars fail Sunday night ... even Terrell Owens took a shot at the Academy.

"After watching the #Oscars2017 Moonlight snafu, maybe I did make the the #HOF2017 class. 😂😂😂 #moonlightgate."