Perhaps hoping to return to a more demure celebration of the film industry after last year’s much-discussed night, executive producers Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner have cast the Emmy-winner and two-time Academy Awards host. Jimmy Kimmel to present the 95th Academy Awards.
Kimmel returns after back-to-back hosting duties in 2017 and 2018, where “Moonlight” and “The Shape of Water” emerged as the Best Picture winners for those respective years. In addition, Kimmel’s wife, Emmy-nominated writer Molly McNearney, will also be attached as an executive producer for the telecast.
Kimmel’s previous shows drew audiences of 33 million and 27 million, significantly better than recent years but less than the shows immediately before and after his. His selection means the Academy and ABC aren’t waiting for the rare type of host who could boost ratings, but instead are choosing with a firm hand because he’s done the job before and is already a part of ABC as the host of the premiere of the series. string. evening program.
Kimmel’s first hosting of the show in 2017 included the chaotic ending when a PwC accountant gave Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway the wrong envelope, and “La La Land” was initially incorrectly announced as the Best Picture winner instead. from “Moonlight”.
“We are very excited for Jimmy to score his treble on this world stage. We know he’s going to be fun and he’s ready for anything!” Weiss and Kirshner said in a statement. (Weiss was the director for Kimmel’s previous two turns as host.)
In his trademark comedic style, Kimmel also released a statement agreeing to return to Hollywood’s biggest night. “To be invited to present the Oscars for the third time is either a great honor or a trap,” he said. “Either way, I’m grateful to the Academy for asking me so quickly after all the good guys said no.”
Chris Rock, who was slapped onstage by Will Smith during last year’s show after he made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, said during a comedy show in August that he had been asked to host but that he had refused the concert.
The 95th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, March 12, 2023 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC..
Steve Pond contributed to this report.
