US actor Ryan Gosling

US actor Ryan Gosling revealed to a crowd of marketing professionals on Wednesday that he smirked his way through the now-legendary Oscars gaffe because he was “relieved.”

The snafu saw presenters announce “La La Land” as the winner in the best film category when, in actual fact, the movie “Moonlight” won the award.

Mid-way through the La La Land director’s acceptance speech, he was interrupted by panicked officials.

Meanwhile, Gosling, who played the lead in La La Land, stood on stage seemingly suppressing a laugh.

“What really was happening as I was watching, it was surreal anyway, I was watching people start to have this panicked reaction in the crowd and guys were coming on with headsets and I felt like someone had been hurt,” Gosling said at the Adobe Summit in Las Vegas on Wednesday, People magazine reported.

“I thought there was some kind of medical situation, and I had this worst case scenario playing out in my head. And then I just heard, ‘Oh Moonlight won,’ and I was so relieved that I started laughing,” he added.

“But truthfully, I was also so thrilled that Moonlight won, I know the director … I’ve worked with them before. It’s such a groundbreaking film, made for a million dollars, and incredible achievement and I’m so happy for them that they were being recognized,” he said.