Conan O’Brien has hosted a lot of awards shows before but he has never hosted the Oscars before. This is about to change. On Sunday, March 2, 2025, Conan O’Brien will take to the stage and host the Academy Awards. Ahead of the big night, O’Brien is already looking at not just hosting the show that gives out these golden statues, he wants one.
“I do believe in my heart that one day I will win an Oscar. I really do,” the five-time Emmy® Award-winning television host, writer, producer, and comedian said with mock seriousness. “I’m not an actor; never been trained. I don’t really aspire to make movies, but I know I’m going to get an Oscar. Therapists call this a ‘delusion,’ but I really think I’m going to get one, and I think it’s going to happen sometime in the next five years… I plan to steal one.”
Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang shared that Conan O’Brien has been lauded for “his brilliant humor, his love of movies, and his live TV expertise.”
“I hosted The Emmys twice. I believe I hosted the MTV Movie Awards nine times. I hosted the Soul Train Awards. But The Oscars, it’s the pinnacle,” O’Brien explained. “It’s the one that you most look up to. It’s the one you dream about hosting when you’re a child, so it has great meaning for me to host the Oscars—as long as the pay is good. I’m looking into that.”
He isn’t sharing much about how he is prepping for the Oscars. “My biggest goal is to enjoy the nine hours of the Oscars telecast,” O’Brien joked of the three-hour ceremony, which will follow an official red carpet pre-show that beings at 6:30 PM ET/3:30 PM PT on ABC and Hulu. “I really want to enjoy it. I think it would be a shame to get the chance to host the Oscars and not have a good time, so I’ll be medicated.”
O’Brien also has a plan for if things go wrong. “The biggest thing I’ve learned after all these years of hosting is that mistakes aren’t mistakes. If something goes wrong, if there’s a mishap of some kind, if something strange happens, that’s actually a gift. Go with it. Acknowledge it. Maybe have fun with it — hopefully have fun with it,” he said. “I think a big misconception is that you’re hoping everything goes perfectly. I hope that things sometimes go a little off the rails, because that’s where the memorable moments happen in late-night television and on the Oscars.”
“So,” O’Brien concluded, “I’m going to plan for some terrible, terrible mistakes.”
Will you be watching the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2025, on ABC or Hulu? What are you most looking forward to during the evening? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
