December 4, 2018
by Carla Hay
Comedian/actor Kevin Hart will host the 91st Academy Awards, which will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and February 24, 2019. ABC will have the live U.S. telecast of the show.
He made the announcement on his Instagram account: “For years I have been asked if I would ever host the Oscars and my answer was always the same… I said it would be the opportunity of a lifetime for me as a comedian and that it will happen when it is suppose [sic] to. I am so happy to say that the day has finally come for me to host the Oscars. I am blown away simply because this has been a goal on my list for a very long time…
“To be able to join the legendary list of host [sic] that have graced that stage is unbelievable. I know my mom is smiling from ear to ear right now. I want to thank my family/friends/fans for supporting me & riding with me all this time…
“I will be sure to make this years [sic] Oscars a special one. I appreciate @The Academy for the opportunity…now it’s time to rise to the occasion.”
It’s the first time that Hart is hosting the Oscars. Most of the previous hosts of the ceremony have had an extensive background in comedy, including Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, Ellen DeGeneres, Whoopi Goldberg, Steve Martin, David Letterman, Jon Stewart, Neil Patrick Harris, Chris Rock, Seth MacFarlane and Jimmy Kimmel.
Hart has starred in hit movies such as “Ride Along,” “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” and “Central Intelligence.” He hosted the MTV Video Music Awards in 2012, and he co-hosted the MTV Movie Awards with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in 2016. In addition to starring in movies, Hart is one of the top-grossing stand-up comedians of all time, with his sold-out headlining arena shows. He is also a producer for TV and Web series, with credits that include BET’s “The Real Husbands of Hollywood,” Comedy Central’s “Kevin Hart Presents: the Next Level” and website Laugh Out Loud Network’s “Laugh Out Loud by Kevin Hart.” In 2018, Hart signed a first-look deal to develop and produce content for Nickelodeon.
Oscar-winning producer Donna Gigliotti (“Shakespeare in Love”) will produce the 91st Oscars, while Emmy-winning director Glenn Weiss will co-produce and direct the show. Nominations for the 91st Academy Awards will be announced on January 22, 2019.
As previously reported, the Academy is implementing new policies for the award show in 2019, including enforcing the three-hour time limit and dropping a few categories from the telecast. It has not yet been announced yet which categories will be dropped from the telecast, but winners of the dropped categories will be announced during commercial breaks, and then listed on screen sometime during the show. The Academy says that it every year, the Oscar ceremony will have a different set of dropped categories from the telecast.