The 2020 Oscars Will Have No Host
The controversy around the 2019 Academy Awards host threatened to overshadow the actual films. Kevin Hart was given the job, then resigned just days later after old homophobic tweets and jokes he’d made in the past came back into public view. After the search for a replacement proved fruitless, the show went on without a host for the first time in 30 years.
As it turned out, the hostless Oscars were a little bit leaner and a little more popular. The telecast reached 29.6 million viewers, up from 26.5 million the year before (though still down from the 33-40 million the Oscars were routinely drawing in the years prior). And today, ABC announced that this year’s Academy Awards will air without a host as well.
Instead, ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke told the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour that they are “going big for star power and musical numbers, ala last year.” Please please please tell me that means there will be at least one musical number from Cats with Taylor Swift and company in full digital fur technology regalia. Trust me: A full Catstravaganza equals huge ratings.
The 2020 Academy Awards air on ABC, sans host, on February 9, 2020.
Gallery — Terrible Movies That Won Oscars: