The Simple Reason Why It Feels Like Jimmy Kimmel Is Hosting The Oscars Every Year Now

This year’s Oscars ceremony began an hour earlier, so hopefully, we’ll see the final winner announced an hour earlier, too? We shall see. At least John Cena has brought some naked levity to the evening.

As well, we’re seeing Jimmy Kimmel as the evening’s host again. This almost appears to be a regular gig for him after hosting the ceremonies in 2017, 2018, and 2023. Why so frequently? Well as The Hollywood Reporter wrote in late 2018, this is “the least wanted job in Hollywood,” and that’s for a reason.

Since the rise of social media, Oscar hosts have faced increasing scrutiny upon being announced and after the show actually begins. Does anyone remember when James Franco and Anne Hathaway were panned for their awkward chemistry back in 2011? That was only the beginning of the end for the gig, for which derision appeared to hit its apex in 2018 when Kevin Hart did step down as host following backlash over his past homophobic tweets. Then in 2022, Chris Rock surfaced without much social media criticism, but as everyone remembers, his night as emcee included a pretty fierce smack on the face. In other words, it’s not a carefree gig.

Meanwhile, Kimmel (who is already employed by ABC) appears to be the Oscars host for the foreseeable future, although he fully denies having been made permanent host. Not everyone is thrilled about a repeat host, of course, but again, social media criticism is probably the reason why we’ve got a “safe” host like Kimmel tonight.