Second time around! More than 10 years after first hosting the Oscars, comedian Chris Rock will return to the spotlight of the 2016 Academy Awards, it was announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
Rock, 50, last hosted the 77th Academy Awards back in 2005. “I’m so glad to be hosting the Oscars,” the multi-hyphenate said on Wednesday. “It’s great to be back.”
Rock also formally made the announcement on social media with a pic of himself holding an Oscar statue.
Look who’s back. #Oscars. pic.twitter.com/7TkkrDpSJM
— Chris Rock (@chrisrock) October 21, 2015
The 88th Academy Awards will be broadcast live on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016, on ABC.
Watch the four best moments from the 2015 Oscars above!
“Chris Rock is truly the MVP of the entertainment industry,” the show’s producers, David Hill and Reginald Hudlin, said in a statement. “Comedian, actor, writer, producer, director, documentarian – he’s done it all. He’s going to be a phenomenal Oscar host!”
Hudlin worked closely with Rock on the TV show Everybody Hates Chris.
Meanwhile the Academy’s CEO Dawn Hudson lauded Rock for his contributions to the industry. “Chris may be best known as a stand-up comic, but we think of him as a creative innovator in many other ways. He is unafraid in his artistry,” Hudson said. “We couldn’t be happier to welcome him back to the Oscars.”
Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs echoed the previous sentiments. “We share David and Reggie’s excitement in welcoming Chris, whose comedic voice has really defined a generation,” Isaacs expressed. “He is certain to bring his amazing array of talents to this year’s show.”
Rock follows a trail of A-list hosts ncluding 2015’s Neil Patrick Harris, Ellen DeGeneres (2014), Seth MacFarlane (2013), 9-time Oscars host Billy Crystal (last in 2012), and 2011’s headline-making co-hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway.
