Jimmy Kimmel will host the Oscars for a third time when he fronts Hollywood's biggest event on Sunday.

The star will be hoping for less controversy than last year when host Chris Rock was slapped by Will Smith.

Kimmel took the helm in 2017 - the year of envelopegate - and 2018 before the Oscars went hostless for three years.

Oscars ratings have been falling in recent years although last year saw a slight improvement with the first full ceremony after the pandemic.

In a statement last November, Kimmel said: "Being invited to host the Oscars for a third time is either a great honour or a trap.

"Either way, I am grateful to the Academy for asking me so quickly after everyone good said no."

Oscars executive producers and showrunners Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner said they were "super thrilled to have Jimmy score his hat-trick on this global stage".

"We know he will be funny and ready for anything!" they stated.

This year's star-studded event will take place on Sunday (12 March). The Academy tweeted: "Welcome back!" to the talk show host as it shared the news of Kimmel's return.

During his last outing as Oscars host, Kimmel aimed barbs at Harvey Weinstein at the first Academy Awards since Hollywood's sexual harassment scandal unfolded.

Opening the event in 2018, Kimmel said: "The Academy took action last year to expel Harvey Weinstein from their ranks.

"There were a lot of great nominees, but Harvey deserved it the most."

Last year, Kimmel found himself in hot water when he was accused of taking the spotlight from Quinta Brunson during the Emmys ceremony in September.

He was awarding the Abbott Elementary creator with the prize for outstanding writing for a comedy series but as part of a joke which began just ahead of the presentation, he stayed lying on the floor pretending to be drunk while Brunson made her speech.

He later apologised to Brunson on his Jimmy Kimmel Live! show for "stealing your moment", although Brunson had taken it in good spirits.

Source BBC

BDST: 1628 HRS, MAR 07, 2023
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