Dear Gossips,
The LA Film Critics Association has named Roma their best film of the year. Does that mean the Oscars will finally include a Netflix film in their Best Picture nominees? Well, that’s not the Oscar priority right now. They’re still trying to figure out who will host.
The day before Kevin Hart was confirmed as the host – and two days before he was unconfirmed as host – The Hollywood Reporter published an article about Why Oscar Host Has Become the Least Wanted Job in Hollywood. It’s six weeks of work for sh-tty pay (by celebrity standards). You make yourself the target of criticism. You are blamed if the ratings are bad. You can’t really showcase your best material because the Oscars generally want to play it safe. The downsides outweigh the upsides for most and if it doesn’t go well, it could be a major career catastrophe.
So who’s it going to be?
Anyone who steps into the role now will automatically be seen as the Plan B, unless of course it’s Ellen DeGeneres, who’s done it before. If it’s Ellen, she’ll be positioned as the one who comes in as the save, like she’s doing the Academy a solid.
Some people online have suggested Ken Jeong. I don’t hate this. Ken just became a member of the Academy this year. In November he attended the Academy’s Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Awards and Live Read. He was in one of the most successful films of the year (Crazy Rich Asians). Bradley Cooper will be in the front row representing A Star is Born. That’s at least two Hangover jokes that write themselves. He shot his first ever comedy special recently that will air on Netflix in 2019 directed by Jon M Chu who also happens to be directing Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights. A lot of synergy is happening there. So while Ken’s been working in Hollywood a long time, there would be tremendous upside for him with the opportunity despite the risk. At the very least, it’s a great Show Your Work dilemma.
Yours in gossip,
Lainey
