Jimmy Kimmel appeared on the latest episode of Gavin Newsom, Marshawn Lynch and Doug Hendrickson’s “Politickin’” podcast and opened up on his decision to turn down hosting the 2025 Oscars. The late night favorite is a four-time Oscars host, having emceed Hollywood’s biggest night in 2017, 2018, 2023 and 2024. Kimmel enjoys the gig, but he admitted that it comes at a price and detracts from “Jimmy Kimmel Live” because all of his focus needs to be on the Oscars.
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“I just decided I didn’t want to deal with that this year,” Kimmel said. “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.”
“I’m not good at balancing. I’m really not,” he added. “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. 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.”
Variety reported in late July that Kimmel had passed on an offer to host the 2025 Oscars. Fellow comedian John Mulaney also turned down an offer. Kimmel is currently tied for the fourth most hosting duties with Whoopi Goldberg and Jack Lemmon. He sits behind Johnny Carson (5), Billy Crystal (9) and Bob Hope (19).
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During his interview on the “Politickin’” podcast , Kimmel said that there are a lot of good options out there for a potential Oscars host but “most of them don’t want to do it.”
“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,” he 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.”
Kimmel has been on a summer hiatus from hosting “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” The show has utilized guest hosts during the summer months, including Kathryn Hahn and Kumail Nanjiani.
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