Jimmy Kimmel will not three-peat as host of the Oscars, sharing that it would be "too much" to host the award show for a third time in a row.
Speaking on the Politickin' podcast, hosted by Gavin Newsom, Marshawn Lynch and Doug Hendrickson, Kimmel explained that he feels his main gig on Jimmy Kimmel Live! "suffers a little bit" when charged with hosting the Academy Awards.
"I just decided I didn't want to deal with that this year. It was just too much last year," Kimmel expressed. "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. I did two years [2017 and 2018], it went well. I did another two years [2023 and 2024], it went well. I figured I'd take a little break."
He continued: "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 believes there are plenty of great Oscar hosts to choose from, but "most of them don't want to do it." Last month, it was reported that comedian John Mulaney also turned down the chance to host the 96th Academy Awards, set for take place March 2, 2025.
He explained, "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."
As Kimmel is presently on a seasonal break from Jimmy Kimmel Live!, his show is being hosted by a rotating group of guests including Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Kumail Nanjiani, Jeff Goldblum, RuPaul and more.