The Oscars might go without a host
Kevin Hart’s decision to withdraw as next year’s Oscars host has left the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences in a quandary.
An industry source told Variety that the academy has gone “gun shy about going with someone anyone who might be too edgy.” But it’s also worried that a vanilla, by-the-numbers host would further diminish the show’s already faltering ratings. Only 25.6 million watched this year’s telecast, which represented a 19 percent drop from the previous year.
So now one of the leading contenders to take over as host for Hart is ... nobody, which really means that the 2019 Academy Awards show would be run by a bunch of big-time somebodies.
“They’re freaking out,” a top comedy agent told Variety.
Variety’s sources described the all-hands-ondeck idea as “a bunch of huge celebs, something ‘SNL’ style, and buzzy people” handling the introductions and sharing other hosting duties. A group monologue also could be in the offing. So if you thought that no host would mean that the Oscars would be able to solve another of its long-standing issues — overly long broadcasts — well, probably not.
Hart was named the 2019 host on Dec. 4, but he abruptly withdrew two days later following backlash for his anti-gay tweets that dated to 200911. Hart said the academy provided him an ultimatum: Apologize or “we’re going to have to move on and find another host.”
Hart refused to apologize and then quit the
show, saying that he didn’t want to become a distraction.
“I chose to pass on the apology,” he said. “The reason why I passed is because I’ve addressed this several times.”
But Hart did show remorse in a Tweet that same day. “I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past,” he said.
In an Instagram post, Hart also said that he is not the same person who made the anti-gay remarks on Twitter years ago.
“I’m almost 40 years old. If you don’t believe that people change, grow, evolve? I don’t know what to tell you,” he said.
In addition to nobody, a number of replacements have been floated.
The short list includes Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, LinManuel Miranda, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Robert Downey Jr., and Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Gold Derby points out that the Oscars have gone without a true host five times.