Oscars hosts? The Rock is game, John Oliver decidedly not

While it’s quite possible Jimmy Kimmel would be asked back to host the Oscars next year, since ratings for Sunday’s telecast were at a three-year-high, it’s still way too early to predict.

However, one big star is game. And another, definitely not.

On the champagne-colored carpet before Sunday night’s telecast, Variety asked Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson if he’d ever take the stage as host. “Sure,” the star said. “We’ve talked about it in the past, and maybe when the time is right … maybe if there was a co-host situation happening.” He added, “Yeah, I would love it.”

However, comedian and Last Week Tonight host John Oliver is a no, if he’s ever asked. Appearing on Late Night with Seth Meyers Monday night, Oliver snarked he couldn’t hide his “low-lying contempt” for the event like Kimmel apparently can, in his opinion.

“The great thing about Kimmel … you’re confident that there is this low-lying contempt for the whole event there … but he somehow doesn’t manage to poison the room with that visible contempt,” Oliver said. “And that is a kind of magic trick that I couldn’t do.”

Oliver added, “I could not, at any point, say, ‘It’s gonna be a magical night.’ These are some of the most over-praised people on Earth, and we’re gonna give them shiny trophies like they’re dogs.”

Incidentally, according to Johnson, he was the Motion Picture Academy’s “first choice” to host back in 2019, but shooting on his Jumanji reboot left him out. “Maybe one day,” he noted.

The telecast went host-free that year, after Kevin Hart was disinvited from hosting thanks to old tweets some called homophobic. Even though he apologized, he refused to return after the rebuke.

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