Jimmy Kimmel has been named as the host of next year’s Oscars.
2023 Oscars: Jimmy Kimmel reacts to hosting gig
The talk show host, 54, will return to front the ceremony for his third time when the 95th Academy Awards is held at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on March 12, 2023.
Jimmy said in a statement on Monday, 7 November 2022: “Being invited to host the Oscars for a third time is either a great honour or a trap. Either way, I am grateful to the Academy for asking me so quickly after everyone good said no.”
Executive producers and showrunners Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner said they were “thrilled” to have the presenter onboard, adding: “We’re super thrilled to have Jimmy score his hat trick on this global stage. We know he will be funny and ready for anything!”
Kimmel’s acquisition comes after months of speculation linking fellow comedian Chris Rock to the hosting gig, an offer, reports claim, he declined.
Jimmy’s two previous stints helming the ceremony were in 2017, when he oversaw the chaotic moment in which the wrong best picture winner was called as ‘La La Land’ instead of ‘Moonlight’.
His 2018 turn came at the height of the #MeToo movement that rocked Hollywood.
And this year he will undoubtedly reference Will Smith’s ‘Slapgate’ scandal in which the actor assaulted comic Chris Rock on stage for joking about his wife Jada’s haircut.
Jimmy has agreed to the job after recently signing a three-year contract extension with ABC’s ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’