While this will be the talk show host’s first time hosting the Academy Awards, he has hosted the Emmys twice – most recently this year, as well as in 2012. Kimmel has also hosted the ESPYS (2007) and is a five-timer’s club member as an American Music Awards host.
Kimmel has had success both times he hosted the Emmys, creating viral pranks, delivering witty jokes, and spewing insults at the television celebrities. At this year’s Emmy celebration, Kimmel kicked off the night with a hilarious opening skit that worked in a number of nominated shows. He got the most attention from the media, however, when he had the kids from the Netflix original series Stranger Things deliver brown-bagged peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and juice boxes to the hungry attendees. Another noteworthy moment: When Matt Damon, with whom Kimmel has a longtime mock feud, came onstage to troll the host.
Beyond award shows, however, Kimmel is known for being able to create viral segments that have become so critical to television awards and talk shows in this day and age. Some of the most notable ones from his talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! include the Handsome Men’s Club, Mean Tweets, where celebrities read mean tweets written about them, and a Halloween bit where viewers are asked to submit videos where they trick their kids into thinking they ate all of their Halloween candy.
Kimmel has been a part of the ABC family for more than a decade — Jimmy Kimmel Live! has aired on the network since 2003. Prior to that, he was known for Comedy Central’s The Man Show and Win Ben Stein’s Money.
He will follow Chris Rock, who served as host of the 88th Academy Awards earlier this year. Rock’s jabs were focused mainly on the lack of diversity in the acting categories following the massive “Oscars so White” controversy that preceded the event. We’ll see what controversies Kimmel will have to contend with once the nominees are officially announced.
The 89th Academy Awards will air on ABC on Sunday, February 26.
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