KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 — Jimmy Kimmel is not coming back to host next year’s Oscars.
After hosting the Academy Awards four times, the Jimmy Kimmel Live! star decided not to take the stage next year, reported PEOPLE today.
Comedian John Mulaney, 41, also passed on the gig after he was approached to host the event.
Mulaney hosted the Academy’s 14th Governors Awards in January and was memorable in his role as presenter at the 2024 ceremony where he performed a Kevin Costner-approved bit about Field of Dreams.
Four-time Academy Awards presenter Kimmel, 56, turned down an offer to return as emcee at the 2025 Oscars. He performed at the ceremony held earlier this year.
The news was first reported on Puck, a digital media company.
Representatives for Kimmel and Mulaney did not provide immediate comment.
The 97th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, March 2, at 7pm Eastern Time (11pm GMT).
The event will be live-streamed on ABC from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Kimmel previously hosted the Oscars in 2017 and 2018.
After a three-year host-less period, he returned to the stage in 2023, delivering the highest-rated show in four years.
He also hosts ABC’s game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
