John Mulaney Explains Why He Declined Offer to Host 2024 Oscars

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John Mulaney is opening up about turning down the hosting gig for the 2024 Oscars.

On Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, which marked its final episode after 16 years on Monday, the comic shared the reasons behind his decision to decline hosting the awards ceremony.

He said, ‘Indeed, I felt quite honored. It must have been around last summer when they approached me. I knew Jimmy Kimmel wasn’t considering this opportunity. They presented it to me instead. However, at that time, I had a lot on my plate and the project required months of dedication.’

According to reports from The Hollywood Reporter, an initial invitation was extended to Jimmy Kimmel, who has previously hosted the Oscars four times. However, Kimmel declined the offer, much like he passed on hosting this year’s Emmys that were broadcasted on ABC as well.

Conan O’Brien subsequently hosted the 97th Academy Awards. During this time, John Mulaney praised him for his hosting duties. “He stepped onto the stage and wasn’t just hilarious, but he raised the show to such a level that I almost believed I had watched all those films, despite having seen none of them,” Mulaney humorously commented.

Maron expressed his pride in O’Brien, noting how he remained focused and excelled during hosting duties instead of disappearing into himself, a trait Maron has observed over their long friendship. He explained that sometimes, after delivering a joke, O’Brien would deconstruct it, something Maron has noticed due to their shared history together.

Mulaney recently launched the Netflix talk show Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney.

Mulaney mentioned that there had been intentions for further work, and they were in the process of determining how to proceed. While he found it pleasurable, he acknowledged that the continuous 12-week run of the show had taken its toll on him as well.

“We would scale back what we were doing if we were doing it everyday,” Mulaney explained.

According to Mulaney, the talk show is an “eternally relevant, oddly timeless, and somewhat out-of-place-in-any-era type of program that aspires to be a variety show in its own unique way.

He mentioned that it wasn’t only the opportunity to test numerous ideas, gags, and invite guests, but also the chance to experiment with entire episodes that had a low-budget feel and others that boasted grandiose production values.”

or more informally:

“He pointed out that it was much more than just trying jokes and inviting guests; we got to create episodes that felt like they were made on a shoestring budget, as well as episodes where we really went all out with the production.

At the Netflix’s Next event held in January, Mulaney initially hinted at his new talk show as an “exciting exploration.” Since then, stars like Pete Davidson, Henry Winkler, Bill Hader, David Letterman, and Natasha Lyonne have graced the show as guests.

Mulaney stated that the show was not necessarily required by either Netflix or himself. He had no desire to host a talk show, and as it happened, Netflix was also stepping away from producing talk shows. It seemed like an ideal opportunity for him to create this one.

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2025-06-02 18:54