When the Oscars air on ABC on March 27, 2022, it will have a host for the first time in three years. The president of Hulu Originals & ABC Entertainment, Craig Erwich, made the announcement during ABC’s part of the virtual press tour, of the winter Television Critics Association. 

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Erwich didn’t elaborate on who might be the new host, joking that it might be him. However, he also expressed confidence in Will Packer, the executive producer for the Oscars. Erwich said “Will really has his pulse on popular culture and entertainment. I know he has a lot in store and we’ll have more details to share soon.” Jimmy Kimmel was the last host, who took the stage in 2017 and 2018, receiving mostly positive reviews. 

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While hosting the Oscars has been generally considered to be a prestigious gig, it has become growingly thankless over the years. With social media and incessant criticism of whoever is on stage, the final straw came in 2019 when Kevin Hart had been selected to emcee the event. However, after homophobic tweets which were years old surfaced, the ‘Jumanji’ actor decided to bow out when the Academy asked him to apologize. 

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This marked the first year when the event was hostless. Seeing a rating increase, as compared to 2018, they went without a host again in 2020. There was a slight dip, but nothing compared to 2021 when the Oscars witnessed a loss of over half its viewers. Notably, the event was delayed due to COVID-19 that year and broadcast from the Union Station in Los Angeles.  

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This year, when the Oscars return to the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, Glenn Weiss will come on as the director for the seventh year in a row. The nominations for Oscars 2022 will be announced on February 8.