Jimmy Kimmel turned down hosting the Oscars after four years (Image: Variety via Getty Images)
After presenting the for four years in a row, late-night comedian has turned down the opportunity to host the 2025 awards show.
Last month it was announced that the 56-year-old Jimmy Kimmel Live! Host had passed up the opportunity to front the show. Instead, Conan O’Brien will be taking on the challenge, and warned viewers that he’ll be a “triple threat” as a host.
When he was asked about his decision to turn down the prestigious gig on an episode of , the dad-of-four admitted that hosting the show again would be “too much”.
He told hosts California governor Gavin Newsom, former NFL star Marshawn Lynch and agent Doug Hendrickson: “I just decided I didn’t want to deal with that this year. It was too much last year.
“You wind up pushing everything off till after the Oscars, and then you have to do everything you promised to do after the Oscars, after the Oscars.
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US comedian Conan O’Brien will be presenting teh awards show (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“I did two years [2017 and 2018] and it went well. I did another two years [2023 and 2024], it went well. I figured I’d take a little break.” The broadcaster explained that he has a difficult time preparing for the Oscars while juggling his late-night talk show.
He confessed: “I’m not good at balancing. I’m really not. It’s not one of my strengths. I’m all in when it comes to something like the Oscars. I think about it in the morning and at night, and when I have ideas, I want to work on them, and then my nightly show seems like a nuisance.
“We have all our writers from the show working on the Oscars, so it distracts them. It’s fun to do, and it feels good when it went well, but for me, just was too much to do it three years in a row.”
Kimmel’s wife, Molly McNearney – who additionally serves as the head writer for Jimmy Kimmel Live! was also tapped to executive produce the 2023 and 2024 Oscars alongside her husband.
While Kimmel acknowledged that there are many other stars who would also made good Oscars hosts, he said “most of them won’t want to do it”.
The TV star added: “It takes a lot of time, and a lot of the people who you think, ‘That person would be great’… they know they’d be great, they just don’t want to do it.
“When you think somebody’s going to be great, the only thing they can do is prove you wrong when they host the Oscars. They say it’s a thankless job. I wouldn’t necessarily describe it like that, because when it goes well, it isn’t, but it’s a tough spot to be in.”
It comes after Kimmel faced criticism for his opening monologue at the 2024 ceremony, with The Independent’s Adam White branding it “tepid and unfunny”.
The Oscars air on Sunday March 2 2025 from 10.30pm on ITV1 or catch up on ITVX.