'A great honour or a trap.' Jimmy Kimmel returns as host for 95th Academy Awards

This is the third time the comedian will host the prestigious award show.

Agencies
The comedian and talk-show host has been a regular when it comes to hosting Oscars. He had hosted the awards on 2017 and 2018.
Late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel will host the Oscars for the third time, organizers said Monday, as Hollywood's biggest award show tries to leave behind the controversy still swirling around its most recent edition.

Kimmel is seen by the industry as a safe pair of hands for the 95th Academy Awards, after the last Oscars in March this year featured a shocking moment in which Will Smith slapped Chris Rock live on stage.

"Being invited to host the Oscars for the third time is either a great honor or a trap," said Kimmel in a statement.


"Either way, I am grateful to the Academy for asking me so quickly after everyone good said 'no,'" joked the host, best known for ABC's long-running late-night show 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!'

Kimmel previously hosted the Oscars in 2017 and 2018. On the first of those occasions, 'La La Land' was accidentally announced as the best picture winner, before 'Moonlight' was awarded the night's final prize.

He also drew near-universal praise for his hosting of television's Emmys in 2020, when organizers scrambled to produce a socially distanced show from a near-empty Los Angeles theater early in the pandemic.
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Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, producers of the next Oscars, said Kimmel "will be funny and ready for anything!"

Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said Kimmel would be the "perfect host" for the ceremony, noting his "live TV expertise."

ABC Entertainment president Craig Erwich said Kimmel "can handle anything with both heart and humor."

Oscars television ratings have markedly declined in recent years -- like nearly all award shows -- although they rebounded to 16.6 million last year, from a record-low 9.9 million for the previous edition.
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The moment when Smith struck comedian Rock for quipping about his wife's hair-loss condition drew enormous attention, but was criticized for overshadowing the night's winners.

In a September meeting with Academy members, Kramer set out plans to "reinvigorate" the Oscars "to a position of power, honorability, and importance," including a renewed focus on "love and reverence for film."
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While recent Oscars have been largely dominated by smaller, more arthouse-oriented films, many analysts predict crowd-pleasers such as 'Top Gun: Maverick' and 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' could feature prominently next time.

The Oscars will be held on March 12, 2023, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
Oscars 2022: Most Memorable Moments From The 94th Academy Awards
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The Oscars 2022 in-person award show returned after two years of being silent due to the pandemic. Here are some of the most memorable and shocking moments from the 94th Academy Awards.

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During the live telecast, three female hosts - Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall - joked about several issues including pay equity as they said that hiring three female hosts was "cheaper than one man".

Leonardo DiCaprio has "done so much to fight climate change and leave behind a cleaner, greener planet for his girlfriends," said Schumer, joking about his penchant for younger women.

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Ariana DeBose received the first Oscar of the evening as she became the first Afro-Latina and openly LBGTQ actor to win an Academy Award for supporting actress.

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Host Regina Hall called the 'sexy' actors such as Bradley Cooper, Timothee Chalamet and more on the stage for a random Covid testing so that she can "test them, naked, backstage, do swab test with her tongue". She then went on to grope Josh Brolin. Awkward ... !

Host Regina Hall called the 'sexy' actors such as Bradley Cooper, Timothee Chalamet and more on the stage for a random Covid testing so that she can "test them, naked, backstage, do swab test with he..
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To help regain the cultural spotlight, the Oscars leaned heavily on musical performances, opening the ceremony with Beyonce who sang her heart out through an elaborated show shot at Compton tennis court. Next in line was Billie Eilish who delivered a moving performance by singing 'No Time To Die' from the last Bond encounter.

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Troy Kotsur became the first hearing-impaired man to win an Oscar. He took home the trophy for his supportive fisherman-Dad role in family drama 'CODA', which is a remake of a 2014 French film La Famille Bélier.

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The Ukrainian-born Mila Kunis led a 30-second moment of silence for Ukraine. Some stars, like Sean Penn, had lobbied the Academy to have Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speak at the ceremony.

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Oscars producers had promised to highlight not just this year's nominated films, but classic movies of the past, which included a segment on the 50th anniversary of 'The Godfather' which brought Francis Ford Coppola, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro to the stage. Uma Thurman and John Travolta also performed their distinctive dance from 'Pulp Fiction', before Samuel L Jackson withdrew the best actor envelope from the film's mysterious glowing briefcase. There was also a video montage of James Bond films, bizarrely introduced by sporting stars Shaun White, Tony Hawk, and Kelly Slater.

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Campion was honoured as best director at the Academy Awards for the unconventional Western 'The Power of the Dog'. The 67-year-old film-maker's victory marks the first time the directing award has gone to women in back-to-back years, with Chloe Zhao winning last year for 'Nomadland'. Campion is the third woman to win in the category and the first woman to be nominated twice for directing, triumphed over a field that included Steven Spielberg for the remake of 'West Side Story'.'

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A remark delivered by comedian Chris Rock on Jada Pinkett Smith did not go down well with Will Smith, which led to Sunday night's biggest moment - a nominated actor slapping a presenter on live telecast. The unprecedented physical altercation upstaged the final half hour of the show, including Smith's Best Actor honour, and will certainly go down as one of the most memorable moments in Oscar history.

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