Why Jimmy Kimmel nearly passed on Oscars 2024 hosting gig — and how ‘Barbie’ changed his mind
He is Kenough to host the Oscars once more.
Late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel revealed Tuesday that he almost didn’t return to host the upcoming Academy Awards — but everything changed after watching Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.”
“I did not think I would ever do it again,” Kimmel, 56, told the Los Angeles Times regarding the award show that is set to take place next month in Los Angeles.
“I did two of them, and they went well — something crazy happened at one of them with a story I’ll have for the rest of my life,” Kimmel mused, referring to his first hosting stint in 2017 when Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway accidentally announced that “La La Land” had won Best Picture instead of “Moonlight.”
“I know how much work goes into [the Oscars], so I thought, ‘Yeah, I don’t necessarily want to do this ever again,'” Kimmel added, reflecting on his time as host during the 2017, 2018 and 2023 ceremonies.
According to Kimmel, he was persuaded to join the 2023 ceremony after watching Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun: Maverick.”
“I knew there was a movie that people had seen, and it just makes the job easier,” he told the outlet, adding that this year he had the same feeling while watching Gerwig’s masterpiece.
“I am sitting in a movie theater watching ‘Barbie’ and thinking, ‘Well, maybe I’ll do this again because at least I have a point of reference with everyone,'” he said regarding the Margot Robbie-led film, which has garnered eight nominations including Best Picture.
According to the TV personality, he learned his lesson from his time hosting in 2017.
“I made a joke about ‘Moonlight’ that made it clear to me that the vast majority of the room had not seen the movie, even though it won Best Picture,” Kimmel recalled.
In November, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that Kimmel and his wife, Molly McNearney, would return to the prestigious awards show.
“We are thrilled about Jimmy returning to host and Molly returning as executive producer for the Oscars,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang in a press release. “They share our love of movies and our commitment to producing a dynamic and entertaining show for our global audience.
“We are deeply grateful to Jimmy, Molly and their teams for their incredible creativity and partnership and for going on this ride with us again,” continued the statement.
Kimmel also released a statement in which he joked that he “always dreamed of hosting the Oscars exactly four times.”
The statement from Kimmel also comes as the academy faced backlash for not nominating Gerwig, 40, for Best Director and Robbie, 33, for Best Actress.
While the “Lady Bird” director has yet to officially acknowledge the snub, Robbie issued a statement saying that “there is no way to feel sad.”
“There’s no way to feel sad when you know you’re this blessed,” she said about the snub onstage at a recent SAG-AFTRA discussion, per Variety.
“Obviously, I think Greta should be nominated as a director,” she admitted. “What she did is a once-in-a-career, once-in-a-lifetime thing. What she pulled off, it really is. But it’s been an incredible year for all the films.”
The 96th Academy Awards are set to be held on March 10 at 7 p.m. EST at the Dolby Theatre in the Hollywood & Highland center in Los Angeles, California.
