Topline
Former late-night television host Conan O’Brien will host the 97th Academy Awards in March, an indicator the upcoming ceremony could be less political as O’Brien typically avoids political material and has lamented jokes about former President Donald Trump, whom former host Jimmy Kimmel has repeatedly torched at the Oscars.
Conan O’Brien will host the 97th Oscars in March. (Photo by Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images for TBS)
Key Facts
O’Brien will be the first Oscars host of the second Trump presidency, which will take place on March 2, six weeks after Trump’s inauguration.
Though O’Brien has previously criticized Trump and voiced support for Democratic candidates, including President Joe Biden in 2020, he seldom discusses his political views and is reluctant to make politics a focus of his comedy.
O’Brien has previously criticized comics for leaning on Trump jokes, stating last year: “What a lot of people have to revert to is: ‘Doesn’t he suck? I hate that guy. He’s an a**hole,’ and those aren’t jokes.”
The comedian also said in 2021 the final months of his TBS late-night show, “Conan,” would have “shockingly few, if any, references to Donald Trump.”
O’Brien said on a 2020 episode of his podcast in conversation with Hillary Clinton he is “not a political comedian,” stating politics is “something that I have always stayed away from.”
Key Background
Kimmel, the most prolific recent Academy Awards host, has emceed four of the last eight ceremonies, and three of the four he didn’t host had no host at all. The late-night comedian is known for his disdain of Trump and has frequently cracked jokes at Trump’s expense both on his show and at the Oscars. “Maybe this is not a popular thing to say, but I want to say thank you to President Trump. Remember last when it seemed like the Oscars were racist? That’s gone,” Kimmel said onstage at the 2017 Oscars, the first ceremony under a Trump presidency. During the 2024 ceremony, Kimmel read a scathing review Trump had posted on Truth Social of his hosting abilities earlier that night: “Has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel at The Oscars. His opening was that of a less than average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be,” Trump posted, calling Kimmel “washed up.” “Isn’t it past your jail time?” Kimmel said in response. Trump and Kimmel continued to spar over his Oscars gig in the following months, with Trump calling Kimmel “stupid” in a Truth Social post in April and incorrectly stating he “stumbled through announcing the biggest award of all,” Best Picture—which was actually Al Pacino, who awkwardly presented the final award of the night.
Tangent
Kimmel, who hosted in 2017, 2018, 2023 and 2024, declined to host the ceremony for a fifth time in 2025. He passed on the hosting gig because he said balancing the Oscars with “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is difficult, and his late-night show “suffers a little bit.” Comedian John Mulaney also passed on hosting the upcoming ceremony.
Surprising Fact
O’Brien hosted Trump on his late-night show multiple times, and the comedian told Rolling Stone the former president stormed off set after his first appearance in 1997 and said that would be the “last time I’m gonna be on this f*cking show” because O’Brien “humiliated” him. During his appearance, O’Brien asked Trump how much money he had on him and instructed him to empty his pockets, but the only item in Trump’s pocket was a condom. O’Brien said Trump “got over it, clearly,” as he appeared on O’Brien’s show several more times.
News Peg
The Academy announced O’Brien’s hosting gig Friday morning. “America demanded it and now it’s happening: Taco Bell’s new Cheesy Chalupa Supreme. In other news, I’m hosting the Oscars,” O’Brien said in a statement. Academy CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang called O’Brien the “perfect person to help lead our global celebration of film with his brilliant humor, his love of movies and his live TV expertise.”
What To Watch For
Whether O’Brien can revive the Oscars ratings, which have struggled to return to the highs of the mid-2010s. The 2014 ceremony drew more than 40 million viewers, but have steadily declined ever since, hitting a record-low 10.4 million viewers in 2021. Ratings rebounded slightly to 19.4 million in 2024.