Being the host of the Oscars is one of the most coveted gigs in Hollywood.
Where else would you get to stand up in front of everyone who’s anyone at the biggest night of the year and crack a few jokes?
Ellen, Seth McFarlane and Anne Hathaway have all had memorable stints on the Dolby Theatre stage in recent years, with the host’s opening monologue usually ending up being one of the most memorable speeches of the night.
But you might’ve noticed that the Oscars 2019 is decidedly host-less. And it’s got everything to do with Kevin Hart.
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The comedian was announced as the person who’d be taking centre stage at the 2019 Academy Awards, but he subsequently pulled out after there was renewed media coverage of homophobic tweets he posted in 2009. That he wouldn’t apologise for.
He explained in a video he was going to drop out of his duties.
“So I just got a call from the Academy, and that call basically said, ‘Kevin, apologize for your tweets of old, or we’re going to have to move on and find another host,’ talking about the tweets from 2009, 2010,” Hart said in a video he posted to Instagram. “I chose to pass. I passed on the apology. The reason I passed is because I’ve addressed this several times.”
Rather surprisingly, nobody was lining up to take on the job, so The Academy did something that hadn’t been done in 30 years – they decided not to have a host.
The 91st Academy Awards kicked off instead with Queen and Adam Lambert as the lead singer, performing “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.”
Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph and Amy Poehler then turned up on stage as the show’s first presenters and almost immediately, everyone asked the same question: Why didn’t they just host the show?
Suggestion for next year, Oscars big wigs: Book these ladies. The people have spoken…