Oscars Curse: Jimmy Kimmel and John Mulaney Both ‘Pass’ on Offer to Host 2025 Academy Awards
Comedians Jimmy Kimmel and John Mulaney both passed on hosting the 2025 Oscars.
July 30 2024, Published 1:40 p.m. ET
The Oscars are going to have to keep looking for a host after two high-profile comedians passed on the opportunity.
Late night TV star Jimmy Kimmel, 56, a four-time Academy Awards and three-time Emmys host who has fronted the past two ceremonies, and stand-up comic John Mulaney, 41, both turned the role down, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Kimmel had previously hosted the Academy Awards in in 2017, 2018, 2023 and 2024.
Kimmel emceed the telecast in 2017, 2018, 2023 and 2024 – the 2019, 2020 and 2021 iterations didn’t have hosts, while 2022 was co-hosted by Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes.
He is tied with Whoopi Goldberg and Jack Lemmon for the fourth most frequent host behind Johnny Carson (5), Billy Crystal (9) and Bob Hope (19).
Ironically, when accepting the offer to host in 2023, Kimmel said: “I always dreamed of hosting the Oscars exactly four times.”
Kimmel is tied with Whoopi Goldberg and Jack Lemmon for the fourth most frequent Oscars host behind Johnny Carson (5), Billy Crystal (9) and Bob Hope (19).
After Kimmel passed on the opportunity, ABC then put out an offer to stand-up comic Mulaney – but he turned the network down too.
Mulaney, who recently helmed the popular Netflix talk show Everybody’s in LA, as well as the Academy’s Governors Awards, had become a fan-favorite pick for position.
When asked last year if he would consider hosting the Oscars, Mulaney said: “Sure, why not? It would be really fun. It’s hosting the Academy Awards. Johnny Carson did that.”
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John Mulaney, widely regarded as a fan-favorite pick for the next host, also turned down the offer.
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Academy CEO Bill Kramer previously hinted that Mulaney could be a possible replacement for Kimmel next year, telling Variety in June: “We are lucky to have Jimmy, who helped create one of the best Oscars last year. John Mulaney also did an incredible job.
“All I will say is, with whomever hosts the show moving forward, we want to continue with this tone of celebration, respect, humor and a great love of movies. We have some great options.”
The 2025 Oscars will air on ABC on March 2.
While it is big opportunity, hosting big awards shows like the Oscars is often seen as a thankless task. Hosts have to walk a delicate balance, playing it safe enough not to offend anyone while still making an impression on the audience – and it can easily go wrong, like when Jo Koy bombed at the Golden Globes.
ABC will have to go back to the drawing board in the search for the next host. But the network still has some time, as the 2025 ceremony isn’t set to air until March 2.
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