"And the Oscar goes out the door with..."

Something bizarre happens at the Academy Awards every year lately, Last year, some goon from the accounting firm handed the wrong envelope to Bonnie and Clyde, and this year, Frances McDormand won the Best Actress trophy, made an effective and rousing speech, and set the prized statuette aside on her way out the door.


It was scooped up, so say the police, by one Terrence "Terry" Bryant Jr., 47, who was pinched late Sunday night for the alleged crime, and booked early Monday morning for a grand theft charge. 

The LAPD said "the incident occurred as Bryant was exiting The Governors Ball. He was photographed holding an Oscar. The photographer did not recognize Bryant as a recipient from the awards show and believed he was in possession of a trophy which did not belong to him. The photographer followed Bryant and without any resistance from Bryant took the Oscar from him. Security at the event was notified and detained Bryant," the statement goes on. "The Oscar was returned to the recipient. At this time it appears Bryant did have a ticket to the Governors Ball."

There was also video of Bryant parading around a party in the Oscar commotion, waving the little gold man around and claiming to have won it for "best producer."

Of course, my thoughts went directly to Mirlande Wilson, of Baltimore, who in 2012 claimed she had the winning ticket in a $218 million-winning Mega Millions ticket.  The McDonald's employee summoned the press to the office of her flabbergasted attorney, showed up late for her press conference, and stated that she called it for the sole purpose of telling the press to go home. 

If she wanted to be a winner, the only thing she really won was a few minutes of perplexed attention. 

Her attorney, Edward Smith, said he had not seen the ticket, which Wilson variously claimed to have bought the winner at a 7-11, or that she added a dollar to the pot when a McColleague bought tix for the whole McCrew.

As to where the ticket was as she claimed to be preparing for her new golden lifestyle, Wilson said she was sure she won, that she "thought" she won, that the ticket was at her home, that it was stashed at McD's, and that she had it stashed in yet another location.

And then, on the Facebook page she maintained under a sobriquet, she said she did not want the money anyway. 

Later that year, a group of three public school employees presented the winning ticket to lottery officials. Calling themselves the Three Amigos, they took the moolah and split, only to look back and see that ten McDonald's employees Wilson worked with were suing her, claiming that she had the winner all along and gave it to the Amigos so as to be duked in among a smaller group of winners.

I don't know what happened to that case, but I suspect that the plaintiffs are still applying two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions on sesame seed buns, while the teachers sip MaiTais on some tropical island. Just guessing.

But...what drives a person to make such a fantastic claim - winning an Oscar without even being in the movie business, winning a McFortune with no ticket to show for it - even while knowing that once the charade was over, they would be exposed as fakes and charlatans?