2020 Oscar Awards Will Be Hostless for Second Year in a Row

After trying things out a little differently for the 2019 ceremony, the Oscars will once again go hostless this year. According to The Hollywood Reporter, ABC announced the decision on Wednesday, Jan. 8 at the TCA Winter Press Tour.

“Let me confirm it now, together with the Academy, that there will be no traditional host this year,” ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke explained at the event. THR went on to report that this news comes after Burke previously hinted that ABC would be taking this hostless route again after a successful show last year.

“We’re having those conversations with the Academy right now,” she told the publication in March 2019. “We are extremely happy with how the show went. Odds are you’ll see us repeating what we consider to be a successful formula.”

The Academy Awards previously went hostless for the 2019 ceremony after some highly-publicized drama with the event’s original host, Kevin Hart. Hart was originally tapped to host the program in December 2018. At the time, the Jumanji star expressed his excitement over the honor on social media, per Billboard.

“I am blown away simply because this has been a goal on my list for a long time….To be able to join the legendary list of hosts that have graced that stage is unbelievable,” he said.

However, shortly after he was announced as the host, some of his old tweets, which contained homophobic jokes, were unearthed. At the time, Hart refused to apologize for the jokes in December 2018 after being urged to do so by the Academy, saying that he has addressed the matter multiple times in the past.

Ultimately, Hart did indeed apologize to the LGBTQ community for his insensitive words, and he subsequently stepped down as the host of the Oscars.

“I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year’s Oscar’s….this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists,” he wrote on Twitter. “I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past.”

There was much discussion about who would replace Hart as the host, but, of course, ABC decided to go a different route for the program. In early February 2019, weeks before the ceremony was set to air, ABC and the Academy confirmed that the show would have no host for the first time in three decades, according to ABC News.

And, clearly, ABC appreciated the more seamless approach to the Oscars, as they’re set to go down that very same lane once again when the ceremony airs on Sunday, Feb. 9.