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 Speaking just three weeks before the highest honors in the movie
industry are handed out, ABC entertainment president Karey Burke
said the Feb. 24 event would forgo a host and "just have
presenters host the Oscars."
ABC, a unit of Walt Disney Co televises the Oscars ceremony
annually and is closely involved in planning the telecast.
Comedian Kevin Hart in December stepped down from hosting the
Oscars after past homophobic tweets resurfaced. No replacement
was announced but there had been no official statements on how
the ceremony would proceed.
The Oscars ceremony has gone without a host only once before in
its 91-year history, in 1989.
Burke said the decision was taken after what she called "the
messiness" over the Hart withdrawal and an attempt to revive his
chances.
"After that, it was pretty clear that we were going to stay the
course and just have presenters host the Oscars. We all got on
board with that idea pretty quickly," Burke told reporters at
the Television Critics Association meeting in the Los Angeles
suburb of Pasadena.
She said the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which
organizes the Oscars, had promised ABC last year to keep the
telecast to three hours - about 30 minutes shorter than in
recent years.
"So the producers, I think, decided wisely to not have a host
and to go back to having the presenters and the movies being the
stars," Burke said.
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The Oscars host traditionally opens the ceremony with a comedic
monologue focusing on celebrities, the state of the movie industry
as well as cultural and political issues.
Burke said she would hear details from the show producers later this
week but said there were plans for "a pretty exciting opening" to
the telecast.
She added that speculation over the shape of the ceremony was an
encouraging sign that the Oscars were still relevant. Audiences have
dropped in recent years with the 2018 show attracting just 26.5
million viewers, the smallest number ever.
"I have found that the lack of clarity around the Oscars has kept
the Oscars in the conversation and that the mystery has been really
compelling. People really care," she said.
Mexican drama "Roma" and British historical comedy "The Favourite"
lead the Oscars nominations with 10 nods apiece.
Burke noted that three of the other best picture nominees - Disney's
"Black Panther," Warner Bros "A Star is Born" and 21st Century Fox
musical "Bohemian Rhapsody" - had each taken in more than $200
million at the North American box office alone.
"I think we are going to see a big turnout for this because these
are big popular movies that have been nominated," she said.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; editing by Leslie Adler and Tom Brown)
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