The Academy Awards has a major dilemma. Though we’re already in the midst of awards season with the Golden Globe Awards and the Screen Actor’s Guild Awards announcing their nominations for the best performances in entertainment, the Oscars still doesn’t even have a host for the upcoming ceremony. Things seemed to be moving along well at first. In Dec. 2018, the Academy announced that comedian Kevin Hart would host the Oscars in 2019. However, after some old homophobic tweets resurfaced and Hart refused to apologize –saying he’d done so previously, he stepped down from the job.
Now, the Academy is freaking out and trying to find someone to cover the gig. From where we’re sitting no one is keen to take the job.
The real reason no one wants to host the Oscars
Hosting the Academy Awards is a thankless job that requires much more work and time then you would imagine. A host must study the nominations, get their comedic jokes down pact, learn how to improvise if something goes wrong (we all remember the Moonlight disaster of 2017), rehearse repeatedly and keep the live audience and audiences at home entertained. It’s a ton of work, and it doesn’t always turn out to be a great experience.
Comedian Seth McFarlane who hosted the ceremony in 2013 explained to Entertainment Weekly, “Look, it’s a gig that has all eyes on it. And when you’re doing something that’s that much in the spotlight, with that much focus on it, that much intensity, you’re going to have a lot of opinions from a lot of people. I’m trying to think of the last time that I read a review of the Oscars the next day where everyone is raving about it—it’s been a long time.”
The pay is poor
Lackluster reviews aren’t the only reasons why your favorite celebrities don’t want to host the Oscars. Apparently, the pay is quite poor. According to The Hollywood Reporter –the Oscar host’s fee is typically somewhere between $15,000 and $25,000. When you are used to making millions of dollars on projects you’re passionate about– this seems like chump change.
It’s also alarming considering the fact that other awards show host fees are much heftier. After all, if you host the Emmys, you can get paid upwards of $100,000.
The Oscars has been hostless before
It might seem insane that the Oscars are just around the corner and the Academy has yet to find a host. However, the Oscars have been hostless before. Back in 1988, the Academy Awards went live without a host. Unfortunately, we don’t think the Academy would like to go down that path again because the entire ceremony was a disaster.
The 61st Academy Awards opened with a musical number between Rob Lowe and Snow White. It was a sketch that went on for 15 agonizing minutes. The New York Times declared the show had earned “a permanent place in the annals of Oscar embarrassments.” Let’s hope that some A-lister takes pity on us all before the 91st Academy Awards air on Feb. 24, 2019.
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