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Billboard Women in Music 2024
The first time Jimmy Kimmel appeared at the Oscars he didn’t have a ticket. It was the mid-1990s, when he was on KROQ’s “Kevin & Bean” morning show, and he and host Kevin Ryder decided to crash the Academy Awards Governors Ball.
“I remember we got there at 9 in the morning dressed in tuxedos,” Kimmel recalls. “We thought if we stayed long enough, it would seem like we belonged there. But moments before the guests started arriving, they kicked us out immediately.”
Their mistake was claiming they were guests of Gil Cates, just a name they saw in the Oscars credits, but actually the longtime executive producer of the Academy Awards. Still, Kimmel and Ryder walked back in and then had a glorious evening. “The only thing I really remember from that night was that we told John Travolta that we had snuck in and he went to get us some food,” Kimmel recalls.
That memory still cements Kimmel, who remains modest even as he has become the host of Hollywood’s biggest night. The “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The host earned plaudits for his stints as Oscar emcee in 2017 and 2018, including how he handled the infamous envelope mistake, when “La La Land” was accidentally named the best picture winner before “ Moonlight” was duly honored.
ABC and the Academy decided not to have hosts for three years before choosing Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes to do the honors in 2022, which featured another infamous moment (Will Smith’s “slapgate”). Kimmel returned last year, boosting ratings and interest in streaming: The 2023 Oscars were up 8% in viewers over 2022 and 1% in adults 18-49. Now the job appears to be his as long as he wants it. Could he be the permanent host of the Oscars?
“I’m supposed to have been asked about next year,” he says. “Which is not a presumption I would ever make.”
However, if Kimmel were to return in 2025, he would match Johnny Carson’s five times as Oscar host. (Only Billy Crystal and Bob Hope have done it more.)
“Maybe we should let Johnny have that number,” he jokes. “I think it was very different back then too. I think it was more of a ‘show up and make some jokes’ type situation. “I’m not necessarily focused on the numbers.”
When Variety catches up with Kimmel a few weeks before the show, he’s focused on setting the broadcast. “This is the hardest part because this is when I have three times more material than I need,” he says. “I have to decide what to cut and what to keep. That’s hard because you fall in love with the jokes and then you hate cutting them. You know you have a good show when you tell good jokes.”
The pre-Oscar films no longer play as much of a role as they once did, Kimmel points out. Most of that production energy now goes into promotions, including one she recently did with Kate McKinnon, who revisited her role as “Weird Barbie” from the Oscar-nominated film “Barbie.”
“I think the previous films are not appreciated as much by home audiences as they are by studio audiences,” Kimmel notes. “I feel like what people appreciate the most are the really strong jokes. And showing up when you need to be on stage and not being on stage when you don’t need to. “Just keeping the show moving in general.”
This year, with hit movies like “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” in competition, Kimmel says it’s been easier to find material. “It’s hard to make jokes about things people don’t know, so having movies where most of the room has seen them helps a lot. In many ways, that’s why Trump jokes work so well. You don’t need to explain anything before you get straight to the joke.”
As for this year’s show, in addition to the recognizable Oscar contenders, Kimmel is expecting another batch of strong acceptance speeches. “If they are half as good as last year, we will have a great show,” he says. “Because that’s what the show ultimately conveys, whether the speeches are emotional, funny, surprising or exciting. It makes the show feel lively. And if not, the program feels boring. There’s not much you can do about it. So we leave that to chance.”
Juggling Oscar duties and hosting “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Every night is a challenge, but the talk show is dark the week before the ceremony so Kimmel can focus on preparation.
“The hardest day, really, is not even the day after the Oscars,” he says. “It’s the Wednesday after the Oscars, when almost everyone has forgotten them. You’re exhausted, but you still have to put on a decent show. “Sometimes I imagine it would be a lot easier if I didn’t have to host a late-night show while I’m preparing for the Oscars.”
But wait. Despite reports that Kimmel is ready to call it quits, the truth is that he has no idea what he’ll do when he signs her to ABC for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” It will end at the end of 2025.
“People seem very interested in knowing when I’m leaving. The same thing happens to me when I go to parties,” she jokes. “The real answer is I don’t know. It’s not like I’m playing some kind of game. There’s still a long way to go and I almost feel like I’m being asked what I want for lunch a year from now.
“I guess I could say, ‘I’ll continue doing this until I die.’ And that would satisfy people, but it is not true. “Eventually it will have to end and I’m not sure when that will be.”
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