Jimmy Kimmel explains why he’s not hosting the next Oscars
Jimmy Kimmel at the 96th Annual Oscars held at Dolby Theatre on March 10
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
(CNN) — Jimmy Kimmel has shared why he recently turned down a request for him to host the Academy Awards next year for a fifth time.
During a conversation with California Governor Gavin Newsom, former NFL player Marshawn Lynch, and NFL agent Doug Hendrickson on their “Politickin’” podcast, Kimmel acknowledged that it’s a tough balance to host both the Oscars and his late-night show.
“It’s hard and it’s a lot of work and the show suffers a little bit to be honest,” he explained, referencing “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
“When I’m focused on the Oscars, I’m less focused on the show,” Kimmel continued. “And I just decided I didn’t want to deal with that this year. It was just too much last year.”
Kimmel hosted the Academy Awards in 2017, 2018, 2023 and 2024.
“You wind up pushing everything off till after the Oscars, and then you have to do everything you promised to do after the Oscars, after the Oscars,” Kimmel said of the gig.
“I’m not good at balancing. I’m really not. It’s not one of my strengths,” he said. “I’m all in when it comes to something like the Oscars. I think about it in the morning and at night, and when I have ideas I want to work on them, and then my nightly show seems like a nuisance.”
Kimmel said his late-night writers also work with him on the Oscars and “it distracts them.”
“It’s fun to do, and it feels good when it went well, but, for me, just was too much to do it three years in a row.” he said.
The 97th Academy Awards will be held on March 2, 2025, and a host has not yet been announced. Comedian John Mulaney also reportedly passed on the gig.
Kimmel reflected that the job is time consuming “and a lot of the people who you think, ‘That person would be great’… they know they’d be great. They just don’t want to do it.”
“They say it’s a thankless job,” Kimmel said of hosting Hollywood’s biggest night. “I wouldn’t necessarily describe it like that, because when it goes well, it isn’t, but it’s a tough spot to be in.”
The nominees for the Oscars will be announced on January 17, 2025.
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