No one will host next month’s Oscars ceremony for the first time in 30 years, according to industry insiders.
The Academy Award ceremony is set to undergo the reinvention following Kevin Hart’s decision to step down as host, after homophobic tweets he had written resurfaced last month.
Rather than replacing him though, it seems the biggest night in film looks set to go ahead without a host for the first time since 1989.
Sources close to the ceremony told Variety that producers will select a range of A-list celebrities to present and introduce various segments on the night, rather than having one household name as the face of the show.
As such, producers are reportedly scrambling to get the line-up together in time for the 91st Academy Awards, which are a little over six weeks away.
The insider told the publication that the show will focus on ‘starry skits’ and will ‘play up a high-profile year for music in film, thanks to likely nominees Lady Gaga, Dolly Parton, and Kendrick Lamar’.
GettyAnd the idea that Hart may come back to host is 100 per cent dead, sources close to the matter told Variety.
Hart stepped down just two days after being announced as the new host, after homophobic and insensitive tweets he posted years ago resurfaced.
Such tweets included comments such as ‘if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will’ and involved Hart calling numerous Twitter users ‘f*gs’.
The Academy had reportedly been considering welcoming the comedian back if he demonstrated remorse for his anti-gay jokes and recommitted to hosting the show, sources told Variety.
But it wasn’t to be as, in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, the 39-year-old said the problem lies not with him, but with those who unearthed his old tweets, describing it as a ‘malicious attack’ on his character.
Ellen, who has hosted the Academy Awards twice before, showed her support for the comedian by saying she had been in touch with the Academy regarding his position.
She said:
I called the Academy today as I really want you to host the Oscars. I was so excited when I heard that they had asked you. I thought it was an amazing thing.
So I called them and said Kevin’s on, I have no idea if he wants to come back and host but what are your thoughts and they were like ‘oh my God, we want him to host, we feel like maybe he misunderstood or it was handled wrong, maybe we said the wrong thing but we want him to host’.
But now Variety reports that the Academy was ‘furious’ that DeGeneres ‘mischaracterised her phone conversation’ with an Academy official and ‘took the remarks out of context’, according to sources.
A month later and the Oscars is still without a host, with the source saying no new offers are out – nor are any expected to be made to a single potential host.
So it looks like it’ll be a night of change for the biggest night in film.
The nominations for the upcoming Academy Awards will be announced on January 22 with the televised ceremony taking place on February 24.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).