Conan O’Brien will formally host the Oscars for the primary time, the Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences confirmed Friday in a information launch that offered the favored comic a simple setup to crack a joke about it.
“America demanded it and now it’s happening: Taco Bell’s new Cheesy Chalupa Supreme,” O’Brien wrote in an accompanying assertion concerning the 2025 award present. “In other news, I’m hosting the Oscars.
The former “Simpsons” author, who hosted “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” from 1993 to 2009 and has been nominated for 31 Emmys (profitable 5), can be taking the reins from Jimmy Kimmel, who has hosted the Oscars 4 occasions, from 2017 to this yr’s present in March.
“We are thrilled and honored to have the incomparable Conan O’Brien host the Oscars this year,” academy CEO Invoice Kramer and President Janet Yang stated Friday. “He is the perfect person to help lead our global celebration of film with his brilliant humor, his love of movies, and his live TV expertise.”
O’Brien has typically espoused his love for cinema, notably on his podcast, “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” the place he has interviewed actors together with Tom Hanks, Al Pacino and Jeff Bridges, in addition to administrators Ron Howard, Jordan Peele and Rob Reiner.
The comic, who was a part of the “war for late night” with Jay Leno, who hosted “The Tonight Show” from 1992 till O’Brien took it over briefly in 2009, was notably peevish after the 2019 Oscars aired with no host — to a reported spike in viewership.
Evan Agostini/Invision/Related Press
“There was no host last night, and the show did better!” O’Brien stated on his TBS present on the time. “Ratings were up 11%. So today, people were saying, ‘Maybe we don’t need a host anymore.’ Do you know what that means to me? Do you know how terrifying that concept is?”
“All last night I was like, tossing and turning,” he stated. “‘End of hosts! No host! Hosts gone!’”
Kimmel, who reportedly turned down the chance to host the Oscars for a fifth time, was nominated for 2 consecutive Emmys for internet hosting in 2023 and 2024.
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The 97th Academy Awards can be broadcast stay on ABC starting at 7 p.m. Japanese time on March 2.
