Jimmy Kimmel (56) and the Academy Awards – that seems to fit. The 56-year-old TV star will be leading the legendary Oscar ceremony for the fourth time this year. This puts him in fourth place in the all-time ranking of moderators. Only Bob Hope (19 times), Billy Crystal (9 times) and Johnny Carson (5 times) have hosted the Academy Awards more times.
Kimmel didn’t have an easy start as an Oscar presenter. Because in 2017, when he presented the mega event for the first time, the screen legends Faye Dunaway (83) and Warren Beatty (86) incorrectly declared “La La Land” “Best Film” as the highlight of the evening. Fortunately, Kimmel was able to save the situation and was hired as presenter again the following year and in 2023.
As host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Kimmel has appeared regularly in front of US TV audiences since 2003, impresses with his humor and chats relaxedly with the biggest stars of the hour on his late-night show.
This of course qualifies the TV professional as an Oscar presenter – but Kimmel is also a true film fan. According to his own statement, he watches “around 100 films a year,” Kimmel revealed to the US industry publication “Deadline” ahead of the upcoming 96th Academy Awards. He added: “I think I see more films than almost anyone – not just when I host the Oscars.”
He takes a particularly thorough look at the nominated works at the respective awards ceremony – and for Kimmel, that also includes the nominated “short films, short animated films, animated films”. So he simply sees everything and knows exactly which works are at stake during the Oscar ceremony.
In addition, Kimmel has engraved himself in the consciousness of his compatriots, particularly through his fake feud with Matt Damon (53). The talk show host and the actor have been fighting each other publicly for almost 20 years – just for fun, of course. Nevertheless, the gag has become so established that Kimmel even used it on the Oscar stage. In a clip during the 89th Academy Awards, Kimmel made fun of Damon’s performance in the family film “We Buy a Zoo.” The Hollywood star was then allowed to award an award, but was only announced as Ben Affleck’s “guest” – thunderous applause from the audience was guaranteed.
Jimmy Kimmel has, among other things, the running gag with Matt Damon to thank for the fact that his late-night show has become popular in the USA. Kimmel ended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” In the past it was usually with the sentence “Sorry Matt Damon, we’re out of time”. He implied that the “Bourne” star was waiting behind the scenes for his appearance, but that was just fictitious. Later, when Damon was actually a guest on the show, there were always fake complications that made it necessary to interrupt his appearances.
The Damon gag was a spontaneous idea from Kimmel, which was praised by the show’s producers. It is estimated that ratings for “Jimmy Kimmel Live” went up from that point on, which is said to have saved the show from cancellation.
He proved that Kimmel is ideally suited as an Oscar host long before his first engagement in 2017. His special editions of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, which were broadcast after the Oscars, were nominated several times for the Writers Guild Awards, and finally received one of the prizes in 2012.
