Whoopi Goldberg offers herself up to host Oscars after Kevin Hart bows out
The Oscars will air on ABC in February.
Oscar winner and former host of the Academy Awards Whoopi Goldberg shared her thoughts on "The View on Tuesday about the awards show and Kevin Hart stepping down.
Hart had stepped down from hosting the 2019 Academy Awards after homophobic tweets that he had written eight years ago resurfaced online. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is now reportedly scrambling to find a replacement, and it's even considering a show without a host at all.
“If you want to go hostless, that's your prerogative,” Goldberg said of the latest developments. “I think it's a dumb idea. People need someone to take them through things. I think it needs to be somebody who loves the films."
The two-time Oscar nominee and four-time host even offered herself up for the position: “Now, I realize I may not be anybody's first choice, but...”
She also acknowledged that she has had a fair share of controversy throughout her own career.
“I'm also problematic!” Goldberg said. “Half of the country is really mad at me, the other half is OK until tomorrow, and then they're pissed at me!”
“We've all overcorrected,” she said of the sensitivity to comedy many people have shown recently.
“I think pushing boundaries in our culture is always going to be important," Meghan McCain said, agreeing with Goldberg that the show would benefit from a comedian host.
McCain also pointed out that although Goldberg has been involved in controversies in the past, other comedians who the Academy is reportedly considering also have “problematic parts of their comedy [and] tweets that they've written in the past.”
“Are we going to have comedy clubs that are like speakeasies? People are going to be doing this in private and, like, quietly? A new kind of safe space?” McCain asked.
She added that as a conservative, supporting her co-host was a bipartisan judgment. “I endorse Whoopi! People on my side, please do not come for her!”
Co-host Joy Behar quipped that a hostless show could help shorten the broadcast.
Goldberg responded, “I don't ever think there's anything you can do, really, to not make the show long. People come up and they make their speeches. This is the one shot that they get to do this! They've done something they've been trying to do their whole life! It's a huge deal to win an Oscar.”
Goldberg hosted the Academy Awards in 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2002. She is one of a handful of entertainers who have won an award at the Emmys, Grammys, Academy Awards and Tonys.
