Emmy-winning late-night discuss present host and podcaster Conan O’Brien will host the 97th Academy Awards, the group behind the ceremony introduced Friday.
O’Brien, 61, has by no means hosted the Oscars, which was emceed by late-night persona Jimmy Kimmel for the final two years.
The ceremony on the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles will air stay on ABC on March 2, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences stated in a publish on X.
“We are thrilled and honored to have the incomparable Conan O’Brien host the Oscars this 12 months,” academy CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang stated in a joint assertion. “He is the proper particular person to assist lead our international celebration of movie along with his good humor, his love of films, and his stay TV experience.”
O’Brien, who is understood for his off-kilter and self-deprecating comedy model, brings a long time of stay broadcast expertise to the telecast, which has confronted declining scores lately.
“America demanded it and now it is taking place: Taco Bell’s new Cheesy Chalupa Supreme,” O’Brien stated in a press release. “In different phrases, I’m internet hosting the Oscars.”
O’Brien obtained his begin as a author on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” and Fox’s “The Simpsons” earlier than getting into entrance of the digital camera with NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” and TBS’ “Conan.”
He left the late-night circuit in 2021 however expanded his cultural footprint with the favored podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” in addition to the journey collection “Conan O’Brien Must Go,” which streams on Max.
O’Brien has received 5 Emmys and earned 31 nominations for his small-screen work.
He will assume Oscar internet hosting duties from Kimmel, who served as grasp of ceremonies in 2017, 2018, 2023 and 2024.
The present eschewed a bunch in 2019, 2020 and 2021; Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes cut up the job in 2022, the 12 months Will Smith slapped Chris Rock.
The producers behind the Oscars are desirous to reverse the current dip in viewership, which peaked in 1998, the 12 months greater than 55 million viewers tuned in to observe “Titanic” win finest image.
This 12 months’s present, energized partly by the box-office success of nominees “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie,” drew greater than 19.5 million viewers, a roughly 4% enchancment over the earlier 12 months.
“Conan has all of the qualities of an amazing Oscars host—he’s extremely witty, charismatic and humorous and has confirmed himself to be a grasp of stay occasion tv,” government producers Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan stated in a joint assertion.
“We are so trying ahead to working with him to ship a contemporary, thrilling and celebratory present for Hollywood’s greatest evening,” Kapoor and Mullan added.