Hollywood actor Cedric the Entertainer has been announced as the host of the 2021 Emmy Awards. The Academy made the announcement in a Twitter post. This will also be Cedric’s first time hosting the Emmy. During the award show, a “limited audience of nominees and their guests” will also be present, according to a press release. 

“Since I was a little boy huddled up next to my grandmother, television has always been my reliable friend, so it is an enormous honor for me to host this year’s Emmy Awards,” said Cedric the Entertainer in a statement.

“Throughout the roller-coaster of a year that we have all lived through, television has helped us stay connected as a society like never before. It not only entertained us, but as it always has, it helped to open our eyes, educate us, and hopefully brought about a better understanding of who we are as a people,” he added.

“I can’t wait to take the stage to celebrate all of the great shows and performances that made us laugh, cry, dance and sing over the past year,” he further added.

The 57-year-old actor majored in mass communication at Southeast Missouri State University and worked at State Farm Insurance before foraying and then eventually making it big in comedy. He attended Berkeley High School in Ferguson Florissant School District.

Considered one of the original Kings of Comedy, he is a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternerty Inc.

His sister Sharita Kyles Wilson is the director of Cedric the Entertainer Charitable Foundation Inc. This foundation provided college scholarships to high school graduates. The motto is, “Reaching Out…Giving Back”.

In his career, he has appeared as the lead comedian at the White House Correspondence Dinner.

The comedian also found himself in a soup after his opinionated character in the film Barbershop (2002) made critical remarks against Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. The comments that were made were spoken in character and Cedric to date has not apologised for them, IMDB reported. 

According to IMDB, he shares friendships with Bernie Mac, Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Guy Torry, Loni Love, Charles Murphy, L.J. Reynolds, George Lopez, Niecy Nash and Eddie Griffin.

In 2018, he was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Live Theatre at 6212 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

Before this, in 2008, he was also awarded a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame at 6166 Delmar Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri.

Has two children, Croix (born 2000) and Lucky Rose (born 2003), with Lorna Wells. Has a daughter, Tiara, from a previous relationship.