The Academy Awards, which are attempting to regain cultural importance after last year’s programme had record-low viewership, have a new host this year. In reality, there are three of them.
According to six individuals with knowledge of the conversations, Amy Schumer, Regina Hall, and Wanda Sykes are in the final stages of negotiations to host the 94th Academy Awards, which will take place next month. The three comedy women bring a variety of experience to the role, including hosting gigs at the MTV Movie Awards (Schumer in 2015) and the BET Awards (Kimberly Williams in 2014). (Hall in 2019). Besides hosting events like as the GLAAD Media Awards, Sykes had her own talk show that aired from 2009 to 2010. She has also presented her own talk show since 2009. Variety has previously reported on the development.
Will Packer, who was appointed in October to produce the Academy Awards ceremony, examined numerous unique ideas for arranging the programme, including the possibility of pairing two hosts for each hour of the show’s broadcast. Before last weekend, Packer was in talks with actor Jon Hamm about being a fourth Oscars host, and he had offered invites to past hosts Chris Rock and Steve Martin, among others. As a result of his “Only Murders in the Building” co-stars Selena Gomez and Martin Short’s interest in the part, Martin was approached. However, due to schedule issues, that idea had to be scrapped.
Schumer, Hall, and Sykes will be taking on one of the most visible and scrutinised positions in the city, as well as one of the most difficult. Top comedians such as Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg formerly regarded hosting the event as a feather in their hat, and they still do. However, the Academy Awards have been without a host for the last three years, a situation that started as a matter of expediency when Kevin Hart withdrew from the 2019 event after refusing to apologise for jokes and tweets that were seen as being homophobic.
Rather of hosting the event, the Academy has requested celebrities to merely begin the programme, as was done by the hilarious trio of Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Maya Rudolph at the 2019 Oscars and Regina King, who gave an emotional speech at the start of last year’s celebration. Because many celebrities are still wary of the time commitment and possible criticism that a solo hosting engagement might entail, those opening roles have proven to be simpler to get. While the programme would be less likely to generate viral, talked-about moments like the star-studded selfie snapped by Ellen DeGeneres in 2014, there would be less possibilities for the show to do so.
And the Oscars need all of the publicity they can get in an age when television ratings are declining: When it comes to the Academy Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organisation that votes on the awards and just constructed an expensive museum in Los Angeles, believes that this year’s presentation will make or break their careers. Due to record-low ratings for the previous year’s broadcast, the Academy has tried innovative methods to attract viewers, including a contest in which viewers may vote for their favourite film of the year. A possible slot for blockbusters such as “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which missed out on the best-picture nominees when they were revealed last week, might be provided by that winner, who will be announced during the presentation of the Academy Awards.
The hosts of “Good Morning America” will be formally announced by the Academy on Tuesday morning. The 94th Academy Awards will be place on March 27th in Hollywood, California.
