LOS ANGELES
Late-night comic Jimmy Kimmel will host the Oscars for a 3rd time, organizers mentioned on Nov. 7, as Hollywood’s largest award present tries to depart behind the controversy nonetheless swirling round its most up-to-date version.
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Kimmel is seen by the business as a protected pair of fingers for the ninety fifth Academy Awards, after the final Oscars in March this yr featured a surprising second by which Will Smith slapped Chris Rock dwell on stage.
“Being invited to host the Oscars for a 3rd time is both an awesome honor or a lure,” mentioned Kimmel in a press release.
“Both manner, I’m grateful to the Academy for asking me so rapidly after everybody good mentioned ’no,’” joked the host, finest recognized for ABC’s long-running late-night present “Jimmy Kimmel Reside!”
Kimmel beforehand hosted the Oscars in 2017 and 2018. On the primary of these events, “La La Land” was by chance introduced as the most effective image winner, earlier than “Moonlight” was awarded the night time’s remaining prize.
He additionally drew near-universal reward for his internet hosting of tv’s Emmys in 2020, when organizers scrambled to supply a socially distanced present from a near-empty Los Angeles theater early within the pandemic.
Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, producers of the following Oscars, mentioned Kimmel “will probably be humorous and prepared for something!”
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Academy CEO Invoice Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang mentioned Kimmel could be the “excellent host” for the ceremony, noting his “dwell TV experience.”
ABC Leisure president Craig Erwich mentioned Kimmel “can deal with something with each coronary heart and humor.”
Oscars tv rankings have markedly declined lately – like practically all award reveals – though they rebounded to 16.6 million final yr, from a record-low 9.9 million for the earlier version.
The second when Smith struck comic Rock for quipping about his spouse’s hair-loss situation drew huge consideration, however was criticized for overshadowing the night time’s winners.
In a September assembly with Academy members, Kramer set out plans to “reinvigorate” the Oscars “to a place of energy, honorability, and significance,” together with a renewed give attention to “love and reverence for movie.”
Whereas current Oscars have been largely dominated by smaller, extra arthouse-oriented movies, many analysts predict crowd-pleasers corresponding to “Prime Gun: Maverick” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Perpetually” might function prominently subsequent time.
The Oscars will probably be held on March 12, 2023, on the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.
