Late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel is explaining his decision to not host next year’s Oscars.
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While appearing on this week’s Politickin’ podcast, Kimmel discussed his reasoning to not to host the Academy Awards in 2025 and opened up about his son’s surgeries and health.
“When I’m focused on the Oscar, I’m less focused on the show,” he explained of his decision. “And I just decided I didn’t want to deal with that this year. It was just too much last year.”
He added, “You wind up pushing everything off ‘til after the Oscars, and you have to do everything you promised to do after the Oscars.”
“I did two years and it went well,” he said of his initial hosting stint. ”I did another two years, it went well. I figured I’d take a little break.”
He continued, “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.”
Kimmel added that at times, all of the Live With Jimmy Kimmel! writers will be reassigned to write for the Oscars and this is ultimately a distraction. He also said that the Oscars hosting job pays “nothing” — Kimmel has previously said he was paid $15,000 for all of his work on the ceremony in 2024.
Despite being “fun to do” and it feeling “good when it went well,” Kimmel said, “But for me, it just was too much to do it three years in a row. So you have full creative control over that, pretty much. I mean, it’s part of the deal. They don’t pay you, but they also don’t interfere.”
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As for his successor, he told the Politickin’ gang that he sees plenty of talent who would be good hosts for the Oscars, but knows that It’s just a matter of most of them not wanting the demanding gig.
“You know, it takes a lot of time. And a lot of the people who you think, oh, yeah, that person would be great. He’d be great. They know they’d be great. They just don’t want to do it. And especially when you think somebody’s going to be great, the only thing they could do is prove you wrong when they host the Oscars. So they say it’s a thankless job. And I wouldn’t necessarily describe it like that, because when it goes well, it isn’t. But if it’s not, it’s a tough spot to be in.”
ABC reportedly made offers to Kimmel and John Mulaney, both of whom passed on the opportunity, as first reported by Puck News .
Later in the interview, Kimmel also shared an update on his seven-year old son, Billy, who has had multiple heart surgeries.
“He had his third open heart surgery in May, and he’s doing great. You’d never know, other than the scar on his chest, you’d never know he had it,” Kimmel said. “He’s a very funny kid, and he’s totally fine now. Hopefully we’ll never have to have another surgery of any kind. And thanks to the Children’s Hospital in L.A., which is a great hospital.”
Kimmel’s August 12 appearance on the political podcast from iHeartMedia saw him interviewed by hosts, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, former football running back Marshawn Lynch, and power agent Doug Hendrickson. The weekly show is an unexpected collaboration between three unlikely friends that covers “the conversations that need to be had,” as stated in its description on Spotify.
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