For the first time since 2018, somebody will actually be hosting the Oscars this year.
ABC Entertainment President Craig Erwich revealed Tuesday the 2022 Academy Awards will have a host, Variety reports. It hasn't been announced who will take the gig, but this will be the first time the Oscars has had a host at all in several years.
The Oscars' recent streak of host-free events began with the 2019 ceremony, which comedian Kevin Hart was originally set to host. He stepped down from the job after controversy over past tweets and jokes, and no one was hired to replace him. In the end, some argued the lack of a host was for the best, and there was an increase in viewership. So in 2020 and 2021, the Academy stuck with the format.
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But the Oscars will now return to having an emcee, possibly in hopes that this person can generate more interest in the ceremony. After all, ratings for the 2021 Oscars were disastrous, with an all-time low audience of about 10 million people tuning in. For comparison, the Oscars drew more than 40 million viewers in 2014. The most recent Oscars host was Jimmy Kimmel, who followed Chris Rock, Neil Patrick Harris, and Ellen DeGeneres.
So who might host this year? It's not clear, although after Spider-Man: No Way Home became a massive hit at the box office, The New York Times reporter Brooks Barnes suggested the Academy "should be moving heaven and Earth" to get Tom Holland and Zendaya to host. In a subsequent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Holland initially said he didn't think he'd have time — only to call back the reporter two minutes later and change his answer.
"What kind of f--ing idiot wouldn't host the Oscars?" Holland said. "So yeah, if they ask me to, I would, and it would be very fun."
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