In recent years, the comedian and talk show host had become an Academy Awards favorite, as he acted as the emcee for the biggest night in Hollywood four times: in 2017, 2018, 2023 and 2024.
So, why did he finally step away?
On the most recent episode of Gavin Newsom, Marshawn Lynch and Doug Hendrickson’s “Politickin’” podcast , Kimmel said, “I just decided I didn’t want to deal with that this year.”
Jimmy Kimmel has hosted the Oscars four times in recent years. Variety via Getty Images
Jimmy Kimmel and an apparently nude John Cena at the 2024 Oscars. Variety via Getty Images Jimmy Kimmel is a four-time Oscar host. Variety via Getty Images
Kimmel, who hosted last year’s ceremony, which included “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” competing and John Cena seemingly nude onstage, added, “It was just too much last year. You wind up pushing everything off till after the Oscars, and then you have to do everything you promised to do after the Oscars, after the Oscars. I did two years [2017 and 2018], it went well. I did another two years [2023 and 2024], it went well. I figured I’d take a little break.”
Comedian John Mulaney also reportedly turned down the gig.
Kimmel is tied with Whoopi Goldberg and Jack Lemmon for how many ceremonies he’s hosted (but Billy Crystal beats him, having hosted nine Oscars).
Kimmel added that hosting the Oscars is just “too much,” combined with hosting his ABC late-night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Guillermo Rodriguez attends the 2024 Oscars. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Robert Downey Jr. (right) with Jimmy Kimmel at the 2024 Oscars REUTERS “I’m not good at balancing,” said Jimmy Kimmel. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
“I’m not good at balancing. I’m really not,” he said.
“It’s not one of my strengths. I’m all in when it comes to something like the Oscars. I think about it in the morning and at night, and when I have ideas I want to work on them, and then my nightly show seems like a nuisance. We have all our writers from the show working on the Oscars, so it distracts them.”
Kimmel said that he still enjoyed the gig, however.
“It’s fun to do, and it feels good when it went well, but, for me, just was too much, to do it three years in a row.”
Although Mulaney didn’t publicly state why he said “no,” Kimmel shed some light on why his fellow comedians make that choice.
“It takes a lot of time, and a lot of the people who you think, ‘That person would be great’ . . . they know they’d be great, they just don’t want to do it,” said Kimmel.
Kimmel added, “When you think somebody’s going to be great, the only thing they can do is prove you wrong when they host the Oscars. They say it’s a thankless job. I wouldn’t necessarily describe it like that, because when it goes well, it isn’t, but it’s a tough spot to be in.”
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