Four months after the Oscars aired on ABC, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is still seeking a host for the 2025 ceremony.
Puck reports that the Academy extended an offer to Jimmy Kimmel, who has previously hosted the Oscars four times, including the past two years, but he declined the opportunity.
Comedian John Mulaney, who impressed audiences with his Field of Dreams commentary at this year’s Oscars, also turned down the hosting offer.
Despite a modest rise in viewership this year, with 19.5 million tuning in—a 4% increase from last year’s 18.7 million—the numbers are still far below the peak of 57.2 million viewers in 1998 when “Titanic” won 11 Oscars, including Best Picture.
Ratings have improved since the record low of 10.4 million viewers in 2021, but they have yet to reach pre-pandemic levels.
Kimmel previously hosted the Oscars in 2017 and 2018 before the Academy experimented with a host-less format in 2019, 2020, and 2021. Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes hosted in 2022, with Kimmel returning for 2023 and 2024.
Mulaney, who also hosted the 14th Annual Governors Awards earlier this year, declined the offer after his memorable Oscars performance.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Kimmel revealed that he did not anticipate hosting the Oscars again. “I did not think I would ever do it again. I did two of them, and they went well — something crazy happened at one of them with a story I’ll have for the rest of my life,” he said, referring to the mix-up when “La La Land” was mistakenly announced as Best Picture instead of the actual winner, “Moonlight.”
Kimmel added, “I know how much work goes into [the Oscars], so I thought, ‘Yeah, I don’t necessarily want to do this ever again.’”
