The Academy Awards May Not Have A Host At All This Year Amid Kevin Hart’s Withdrawal

The Academy may decide to go without a host for this year’s Oscars ceremony.

It’s been a rollercoaster of a week for the Academy after #KevinHart stepped up and quickly stepped down as the host for the 2019 Academy Awards, following the reposting of his old homophobic tweets. After his final decision to remove himself from the title – claiming he didn’t want to become a “distraction” – the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was left with a big puzzle to solve: Who will be the replacement?

But the Academy isn’t thinking of whom the replacement will be but rather if there should be a replacement at all. Two sources say the Academy is considering going without a host or possibly having “a bunch of huge celebs, something SNL style, and buzzy people to throw to commercial.” “They’re freaking out,” said a top comedy agent, according to Variety. The Academy also doesn’t want to go the late night host route, as they want to avoid being too edgy. However, with its record-low ratings playing it safe may not be the best option. The Oscars’ telecast suffered a 19 percent drop from the previous year.

Nevertheless, the Board of Governors will meet up Thursday night and reportedly start back at square one with picking, or not picking a host. A representative said they were “bummed” that Hart didn’t just “stay the course” with apologizing and moving on. 

“My clients are bummed. They’re bummed Kevin didn’t stay the course and serve as an example. It dampens the experience, hopefully [the Academy] can pull it together so we can focus on the excitement,” said the rep.