With the recent release of his new horror-thriller series Before on Apple TV, Billy Crystal is officially back in the spotlight – although a little more choosier about when he is willing to be.
The comedian, who hosted The Academy Awards on nine different occasions from 1990 to 2012, was met with acclaim from audiences for his hosting prowess and received. He holds the number two spot for hosting Hollywood’s biggest night the most times — only behind Bob Hope, who hosted on thirteen occasions.
It’s been a difficult decade for the Oscars, to say the least — from a Best Picture winner mix-up to one of its presenters being slapped across the face after making a joke that quickly went south (we’re sure you don’t need to be reminded who was involved), anyone willing to emcee the awards ceremony needs to be quick on their feet.
More recent Oscars ceremonies have opted for no host, instead opting for a rotation of guest presenters for each category. It’s no wonder, too — hosts in the past decade, including Jimmy Kimmel and Amy Schumer, failed to muster as much as a smile from many viewers, whole other, somewhat more successful hosts, such as Neil Patrick Patrick Harris and Ellen DeGeneres, have fallen out of public favor since they last fronted the show.
Crystal’s name has been thrown into the ring countless times by fans of the awards show as a (historically successful) prospective host, however, the SNL alum seems to be sticking with the showbiz mantra of “always leave them wanting more”.
Why is Billy Crystal reluctant to host the Oscars again?
The Tony Award-winning performer told IndieWire that he hasn’t been asked to host the Oscars since his last venture in 2012, but he isn’t looking for an invite, because the answer is a pretty firm “no”.
Crystal looks back fondly on his time at the Academy Awards, telling the publication “I had nine wonderful experiences for me, some better than the others,” he said. “But most of them were really wonderful experiences, to host a show and be funny and keep the audience awake, both at home and in the audience.”
He doesn’t however, miss some of the hardest aspects of keeping the showbiz world entertained. “It’s a tough gig, because when I first started, there were three critics — that, if you cared about critics, there were three that you paid attention to — which was Tom Shales in The Washington Post, Janet Maslin in The New York Times, and Howard Rosenberg in The LA Times. They were all top notch.”
Therein lies his issue with hosting again — times have changed since the 1990s, when he did most of his Oscars gigs. His 2012 stint was a last-minute replacement for fellow comedian Eddie Murphy, who dropped out shortly before the ceremony, and even then there existed a totally different cultural landscape.
So, the biggest recent change that Crystal cites as an obstacle to returning? The social media hate that springs up at a moment’s notice and spreads like wildfire.
“Now there’s 2 billion critics, and they press ‘send’ right away,” the 76-year-old said, referring to tweeters, Facebook posters, TikTokers, and the like, sending in their reviews as soon as the show begins — sometimes even before a joke has finished leaving the host’s mouth.
“It’s a whole different scrutiny on the job, which makes a lot of people not want to do it.”
But the ones that still do covet the elite job, Crystal wishes them good luck. Judging by how he is keeping his distance from the starry night, sounds like future hosts will need all the luck that they can get.
Published: Oct 26, 2024 02:15 pm