For the first time in 30 years, this year’s Oscars telecast will be going without a host. Or will it be? There is a theory floating around online currently that the Academy has a secret ace up their sleeve, and that ace is Whoopi Goldberg. The actress and comedian has hosted the show four times in the past and she’s certainly capable of handling the gig. As potentially fun as the idea of a secret Oscar host may be, this has already been all but debunked.
First, let’s dig into where this all came from. Whoopi Goldberg has been absent from her job as co-host of The View as of late. This prompted some, like Twitter user Peter Knegt, to start putting some pieces of a puzzle together. Here’s what Kneght came up with, which has been circulating online.
“Whoopi Goldberg’s absence from The View (she’s sick, they say) since the day after they announced her as an Oscar presenter+the fact that she’s the only previous Oscar host listed as a presenter+she openly said on The View in January that she’d be up for hosting=???”
Indeed, that paints a compelling picture. Following the debacle with Kevin Hart, who stepped down as host of this year’s show amidst anti-LGBTQ remarks from the past resufacing, the Academy decided to go without a host. Mostly because they didn’t have the usual prep time needed, nor could they get an A-list star to sign on.
The idea here is that they secretly got Whoopi Goldberg to agree to host at the eleventh hour. Coincidentally, The View airs on ABC, who will play host to the Oscars telecast. However, on the most recent episode of the show, co-host Joy Behar weighed in on this little theory and says Goldberg will not be hosting the Oscars.
Related: Why The Rock Said No to Hosting the Oscars
“Whoopi’s still out, she’s not feeling well and there’s all these conspiracy theories on the internet that she’s not really sick, she’s secretly preparing to host the Oscars. Let me just set the record straight right now: Whoopi is on maternity leave, I’m sorry. It was a miracle! She’s actually recovering from pneumonia, it’s a serious thing. I don’t think she’s going to be able to host the Oscars and I’m sure she’s very disappointed. She’s not even well enough to host this show right now, much less the Oscars.”
Unless this is an extreme and sort of dark way to throw people off of the scene, this theory is all but done for. Not only that, but why would The Academy Awards want to keep this a secret? They’ve been putting out fires this whole awards season, from trying to introduce a new category honoring popular movies (which was ironically unpopular) and for recently trying to present several categories during commercial breaks, a decision that was reversed because Hollywood railed against it. Having Whoopi Goldberg host would be a nice bit of PR, but that’s PR they’re not going to get. Perhaps they are worried that someone will dig up someting bad from her past and use it against her? The Ted Danson debacle immediatly comes to mind. Feel free to check out the clip from The View Twitter account below.
We’re setting the record straight: @WhoopiGoldberg is not preparing to host the #Oscars.
She’s on the mend recovering from pneumonia and we look forward to her returning to @TheView soon! ❤️ https://t.co/f8u2wc159Spic.twitter.com/UmNzDOuemi
— The View (@TheView) February 20, 2019
Whoopi Goldberg’s absence from The View (she’s sick, they say) since the day after they announced her as an Oscar presenter+the fact that she’s the only previous Oscar host listed as a presenter+she openly said on The View in January that she’d be up for hosting=???
— Peter Knegt (@peterknegt) February 20, 2019
