Jimmy Kimmel will be hosting the Academy Awards for the second year in a row and the fourth time overall, according to an announcement from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences on Wednesday.
The CEO of the Academy, Bill Kramer, and the Academy President, Janet Yang, shared that Jimmy Kimmel, the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, will be taking on the role of host for Hollywood’s big night once again.
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This decision comes after the 2023 ceremony, which had the highest viewership since the pre-pandemic broadcast in 2020, with 18.7 million viewers. It also follows the incident at the 2022 Oscars where Will Smith slapped Chris Rock.
Jimmy Kimmel’s wife, Molly McNearney, will also be returning as the executive producer for the show for the second year in a row.
In a statement, Kramer and Yang expressed their excitement, saying, ‘We are thrilled about Jimmy returning to host and Molly returning as executive producer for the Oscars. They share our love of movies and our commitment to producing a dynamic and entertaining show for our global audience.’
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Jimmy Kimmel has hosted the Oscars before in 2017, which ended with the memorable mix-up of ‘La La Land’ being mistakenly named as the best picture, and in 2018.
In a statement, Jimmy Kimmel humorously said, ‘I always dreamed of hosting the Oscars exactly four times.’
Date: You can catch the 96th Academy Awards live on ABC on Sunday, March 10, 2024.
