Jimmy Kimmel has closed the curtains on his Oscar hosting. The comedian-turned-late-night-talk-show-host has reportedly declined an offer to host the 2024 Academy Awards, and movie fans have some thoughts about it.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, ABC and the Academy asked Kimmel to host the show again in 2025, but he opted not to take them up on the offer. Next, they’re said to have reached out to John Mulaney, but he also turned them down. While Mulaney has never hosted the show in the past, Kimmel has hosted it four times, including the past two years in a row, so he seemed like a shoo-in.
Scroll down to see what Oscar-watchers are saying in the wake of the surprising news, including who fans want to see take the stage for hosting the big awards show next year.
“Good”
“Good,” one person commented on X (formerly Twitter). “I can’t stand Kimmel anyway!”
Mulaney Fans
Someone else added that Mulaney “would have been good,” because, in their words, “Kimmel stinks.”
“Political”
The same X user also suggested Ryan Seacrest for the job, because “at least he knows the stars [and] about Hollywood,” and “won’t be political.” They also noted that “someone” could write “a few jokes” for Seacrest.
Mic Drop
“Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Drops mic,” offered another person.
Notably, Fey and Poehler previously hosted the Golden Globe Awards together.
Kevin Hart
“Kevin Hart would be great!” one fan exclaimed.
Hart had been tapped to host the 2019 Oscars, but walked away from the job beforehand due to backlash over some of his old social media posts that resurfaced and caused backlash.
“Options”
One more person shared “some options on who can host the Oscars,” posting photos of Julia Louis Dreyfus, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Steve Martin and Martin Short, and Timothée Chalamet.
Steve Martin has hosted the Oscar in the past, and it was reported that he and his Only Muders in the Building co-stars Short and Selena Gomez were offered the opportunity to host together — per /Film — but scheduling was an issue so it didn’t happen.
“Hilarious”
Someone joked that it “would be hilarious” if Chris Rock hosted the Oscars, presumably due to the “slap heard ’round the world” situation at the 2022 Academy Awards when Will Smith walked up on stage and hit Rock for making a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett.
“Only One Man for the Job”
Finally, one last X user quipped that “there’s only one man for the job,” and shared a GIF of Ricky Gervais.
Gervais notoriously hosted the Golden Globes five times, and made a big splash with each one.