Chris Rock May Land 2023 Oscar Hosting Gig

Despite being disrespectfully pimp slapped for the world to see on the Oscar stage, Chris Rock hasn’t missed a check yet, and it looks like he may be tapped for hosting duties at next year’s ceremony.

ABC already has plans for the 95th Annual Academy Awards. This week, the network announced that the ceremony would air on Sunday, March 12th. President of Entertainment at ABC, Craig Erwich, is dedicated to making next year’s show “even better” than this year, which was overshadowed by the infamous Will Smith slap. He is even open to making Rock the host of the event.

The 2022 Academy Awards saw impressive increases in viewership. The show was up nearly 60% in audience and 73% in the key demo, capturing 16.6M viewers.

Rock has not spoken out much publicly about the embarrassing moment. During a recent stand-up, he joked that he’d regained most of his hearing. He also said he’d only speak with Netflix about the ordeal, sparking rumors that he may have a deal with the streamer in the works. Smith has also kept a low profile after issuing Rock a public apology and announcing his resignation from The Academy.

The “Good Hair” creator is currently on his Ego Death World Tour through August. In July, he had several New York dates lined up with Kevin Hart as part of their Rock Hart mini-tour.