Oscars 2019: Whoopi Goldberg not hosting, despite conspiracy theory
Because of Whoopi Goldberg’s recent absence from The View amidst a battle with pneumonia, the conspiracy was that she was actually off in Los Angeles preparing to be the new emcee for the Oscars. We do understand the reason behind the theory, mostly because of the fact that both The View and the Oscars air on the same network (synergy!); beyond that, Whoopi is a big-screen icon and someone who has hosted the ceremony in the past.
Yet, on The View this week, those rumors were officially shut down when Joy Behar said the following on the subject:
“Whoopi’s still out, she’s not feeling well, and there are all these conspiracy theories on the internet that she’s not really sick. She’s secretly preparing to host the Oscars … She’s not even well enough to host this show!”
This was obviously a longshot conspiracy theory in the first place, mostly because there is virtually zero reason for ABC and the Academy to be super-secretive about this. What would they gain from not announcing that Whoopi was hosting the show? There’s a simple answer to that: They gain nothing. They benefit far more substantially from announcing that Whoopi is the host and getting people actually talking about the gig. This just isn’t happening.
The real truth here remains that the Oscars are going without a host this year, which is going to be a fascinating experiment. There were concerns about following Kevin Hart given the controversy that led to his exit, and then also the sentiment that whoever replaced him would end up coming across as the Academy’s second choice for that given year. We don’t think that the ceremony’s going to be without a host forever … it’s just for this year. Also, it’s not going to be Whoopi.
The Academy Awards are set to air this Sunday, and it’s shaping up to be one of the more unpredictable races that we’ve seen in some time. Despite being viewed as one of the early favorites, the star on A Star is Born has ironically faded and Roma and Green Book are now considered to be two of the larger favorites for Best Picture. The Oscars are also avoiding controversy by deciding to air all of the categories during the original broadcast, rather than placing some during commercial breaks and editing them in later on as a time-saving measure.
Related News – Be sure to get some more information right now regarding the Oscars
Would you actually want to see Whoopi hosting the Oscars again? Be sure to share in the comments. (Photo: ABC.)