What is the Academy waiting for?
Academy heads Donna Gigliotti, Dawn Hudson and John Bailey are in total panic mode at the moment, that I am sure of. Who in their right mind wants to take over as host of the 91st Academy Awards? You need a sin-free past, total pureness, to be accepted as the next host by the Twitter banshees. The slightest uh-oh hiccup in your Twitter feed .... and you're toast. And so, I ask again, who in their right mind wants to take on the hounds and proclaim they themselves have had a scot-free past without a foul thought written or said. What the Kevin Hart fiasco has proven is this: Being Oscar host means having to deal with your past being scrupulously dissected until something, anything, is found. Also, the host cannot, most likely, be white. We need an inclusive-looking emcee for the Oscars, otherwise Twitter has the potential to be flooded with#OscarsHostSoWhite hashtags left and right.
Hosting the Oscars has become a toxic job. Ratings are dropping every year, at alarming rates, and awards shows just seem like rather silly things in this day and age. Does the next host really want a Hubble telescope hovering directly over the database of his or her entire life.
“We don’t encourage our clients to [host the Oscars] anymore,” said one prominent agent to the NY Post. “Every host gets picked apart by vultures."
“The job’s become a lose-lose for everyone, and Hollywood’s finally figured it out,” the agent added. “Big stars have lots to lose. New ones don’t get ratings.”
One manager who represents many comedians predicts it will be hard to find a Hart replacement who is beyond reproach. “Comics are equal-opportunity [joke tellers]: Jews, blacks, gay, straight. Political correctness is not funny. It’s hard to find someone funny and wholesome.”
A longtime TV producer agreed: “If [the Academy] casts someone young, they won’t have skeletons, but they won’t get ratings. And anyone over 35 has something to hide.”
Yesterday THR's Scott Feinberg posted a “Jesus, are they gonna choose somebody or what?” article suggesting John Legend and wife Chrissy Teigen as co-hosts.
Feinberg added: “What is known is what the Academy and ABC, which broadcasts the Oscars, do not want. They do not want someone who is socially divisive (especially after the Kevin Hart debacle), having concluded that politically-outspoken hosts have contributed to the show’s ratings declines in recent years; and they do not want someone who primarily appeals to older viewers, who are likely to watch the show regardless of who hosts.”
That's a solid point from Feinberg. Jimmy Kimmel hosting the ceremony these last two years has irked Trump voters to no end, but one must ask the question, do his supporters even watch Hollywood awards shows in the first place? Does that mean the next host has to be apolitical? I wouldn't mind that because, God knows, we have enough Trump-bashing every day in almost every mainstream media outlet safe for Fox News.
“Further complicating matters is the Hart factor. Anyone who has been approached since Hart’s withdrawal knows — and knows that everyone else will know — that he or she was a backup option, a second choice. Moreover, people who might consider hosting in other years, such as Dwayne Johnson, are probably reluctant to accept this year, not wanting to look like they are benefiting from the misfortunes of a friend.”