Jerry Seinfeld Once Refused to Host the Oscars Because It Wouldn’t Be Fun
The Academy Awards assigns a new host to the coveted awards ceremony annually to entertain its guests. Many comedians have done the show and even thrived in their element. But Jerry Seinfeld is one comic who didn’t see himself ever hosting the show.
Jerry Seinfeld has been invited to host the Oscars numerous times
Seinfeld has never stepped foot on an Oscars stage during his long career. But it wasn’t for a lack of trying on the Academy’s part. The Emmy winner once revealed in an interview with Empire (via Female First) that he typically turned down the offers. One worry he had was doing too good of a job at the Oscars, which might prompt the Academy to keep inviting him back onto the show.
But Seinfeld also felt that the Oscars’ normally star-studded audience would be too focused on winning their awards. This might’ve made it unlikely for celebrities to truly enjoy the show.
“If I hosted the Oscars and I did it really well, they would just ask me to do it again. And then again. And again. There’s no up-side. I don’t know, it’s just a weird environment. I’m lucky that I can do things that kind of interest me as a challenge, but everybody there is nervous, you know? They want to win their award. They’re not there to have fun. I like to go in front of an audience that wants to have fun,” he said.
Jerry Seinfeld felt comedians didn’t need to win awards to validate them
The Bee Movie star is no stranger to the awards season. His own hit series, Seinfeld, racked up quite a few Emmy wins during its time on air. Despite this, however, the comic felt comedians in general weren’t as recognized as more dramatic actors for their contributions. Seinfeld believed this only changed recently thanks to Netflix giving comedians the platform they might’ve deserved.
“I think for a long time, and actually until Netflix, comedians were just not as important, not as valuable, not considered major artists or real artists. But when Netflix came along and they started doing these specials [including his] with people and paying them like movie-star money, was the first time people started to look at comedians like, ‘These people are as good as the actors, or as valuable,'” Seinfeld once said at the New Yorker Festival according to Deadline.
Steve Martin, who was at the festival with Seinfeld, agreed, and brought up the Oscars’ own treatment of comic actors.
“The absence of a comedy presence at the Oscars, at awards. It’s a lifetime of dismissal of comedy,” Martin said. “And we who make it know that we really work hard. You know, drama has an inherent weight and comedy has an inherent lightness. So, I mean I don’t worry about that, I don’t worry that comedians don’t get Oscars.”
Seinfeld was on the same page, but didn’t think comedians needed validation from the Academy.
“Comedians don’t need awards and acclaim to be taken seriously. If you have a life in comedy … that is the award you get to be in comedy,” Seinfeld added.
Jerry Seinfeld chose to do his own variety show over hosting the Oscars
Seinfeld may have come close to giving in and hosting the Academy Awards. In a 2013 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he opened up about reaching a crossroads in his career.
“To tell you the truth, I was at a point where I was saying, ‘This is the year I’m either going to host the Oscars or I’m going to try and make a show on the Internet.’ I can’t really give you the beats of what happened there, but something happened, politically, and I said, ‘OK, then I’m going to do the Internet thing.’ And now that door has kind of closed behind me,” Seinfeld said.
That ‘internet thing’ was his web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, where Seinfeld interviews a variety of celebrities. The series was even successful enough to grab an Emmy nomination.
But the freedom Seinfeld has doing his web series might’ve made him even less likely to do the Oscars.
“The only thing I can tell you is fresh ground is highly addictive, and that’s where I am right now. I can do anything I want with this show. When you’re in that world and someone says, ‘How would you like to go into the most controlled possible environment?’ it’s not as attractive,” he said. “And here’s another thing: Nobody wants the Oscars to be good. Nobody really cares. I don’t care. I’m going to watch it regardless. It’s just something we need to do. It’s like a husband and wife occasionally are going to have a fight. That’s what the Oscars are — something we need to do from time to time.”
