- Conan O’Brien will host the Oscars for the first time this year
- The ceremony takes place on March 2
- The host and comedian discussed how he’ll approach a ceremony taking place in the aftermath of the LA fires
Conan O’Brien is hosting the Oscars for the first time and he’s shared how he’ll steer an event that “meets the moment”.
Read more: 2025 Oscars: Most shocking moments in its history
O’Brien’s making his Oscars debut in challenging circumstances following the LA fires that massively impacted the entertainment world. In fact, O’Brien had to evacuate his home in LA himself due to the fires.
Indeed, some, such as Jean Smart, suggested award ceremonies shouldn’t be happening at all right now. There was also talk of postponing the Grammys for similar reasons, but it is proceeding as planned next weekend. The Oscars nominations were also delayed.
“It’s not the easiest assignment I’ve ever had but I’m embracing it. And it’s not about me, obviously. This is a moment for all of us to step back and say, ‘Be humble.’ Just be humble and say, ‘This is a massive moment. This is a terrible thing that’s happened in Los Angeles,’” O’Brien told The Hollywood Reporter.
“I know that people are politicizing it and yelling about it. It’s just a human tragedy,” continued O’Brien. “We see these all the time, all around the world in our television sets, and then we go back and eat our turkey burger that just got delivered. I happen to live in the city now where something like this has happened. We’re all taking a moment to try and absorb it, and as an entertainer, I need to try and figure out what’s the best way to respond to this? So we will figure that out over the next five weeks, and it’ll probably come together 45 minutes before the show.”
“It’s a moving target”
O’Brien added that that he and his writing team are waiting to judge the mood of the nation before they start writing. The aim, he said, was to acknowledge the disaster n a respectful way while also offering an uplifting tone to the show.
“I couldn’t tell you right now what the show is going to be. We have a million ideas, but which ones will we use? What’s going to be appropriate? What’s the right tone? Like I said, the tone might shift somewhat. You never know one way or the other. It’s a moving target.
He continued: “I want to make sure that we do the show that meets the moment on March 2, and that we put a light on a lot of the people in L.A. that have been affected; that we are a mixture of sensitive, but also understanding, but also I hope uplifting that there’s some fun. It’s a crazy combination.”
When are the 2025 Oscars?
The 97th Academy Awards are scheduled for Sunday, 2 March at 4 pm Pacific Standard Time and 7 pm Eastern Standard Time.
The 2025 Oscar nominations were revealed on Thursday 23 January 2025. Spanish language musical drama Emilia Pérez led the way with 13 nominations.
The film earned a Best Picture nomination, alongside recognition for its star Karla Sofía Gascón who became the first Trans actor to be nominated in this category.
Brady Corbet’s three-and-a-half-hour-long historical drama The Brutalist received 10 nominations. Musical comedy Wicked received the same number of nods.
Read more: 2025 Oscars Nominations: Emilia Perez, Wicked and The Brutalist lead the way
Wicked stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were nominated in Best Actress and Best Supporting actress respectively. Hollywood legend Demi Moore was also nominated for the former for her role in The Substance.
Keiran Culkin led the Best Supporting Actor category for A Real Pain alongside his Succession co-star Jeremy Strong for his role in Donald Trump movie The Apprentice.
