Oscars to go without host for 1st time in 30 years

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 6, ARMENPRESS. For the first time in 3 decades, this year’s Academy Awards ,or the Oscars, will go ahead without an official host, ABC entertainment President Karey Burke said.

ABC, a unit of Walt Disney Co., televises the Oscars ceremony annually.

American comedian Kevin Hart stepped down in December 2018 from hostingthe ceremony after past homophobic tweets resurfaced, and no replacement was announced.

The last time that the Oscars went without a host was in 1989.

Burke said this year'sdecision not to have a hostfor the show was taken after what she called "themessiness" over the Hart withdrawal and anattempt to revive hischances.

"After that, it was pretty clear that we were going to staythe course and just have presenters host the Oscars. We all goton board with that idea pretty quickly," Burke told reporters atthe Television Critics Association meeting in the Los Angelessuburb of Pasadena, according to CBC.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan