Whoopi's Oscar Miss
Whoopi's Oscar Miss
The Transom also learns that former BFF's Zucker and Zaslav have not spoken
Hollywood Transom is part of your Ankler subscription. Written by Jeff Sneider, the column’s mission is to deliver brief scoops and news about this industry’s current state of play and its players.
1. ACADEMY MESS, Part I
By now, the world knows that the Oscars will be hosted by Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes. It's a three-hour show, so the current assumption is that each actress — all of them funny in their own way — will host an hour or so of the broadcast.
As with all things Oscar, the road to get here was tortured and painful, a typical AMPAS farce with some unexpected players dropping in along the way.
Here's the tea, as it’s been explained as of this hour.
Originally, there were going to be two hosts per hour. Hall was going to be paired with Tiffany Haddish because they starred in Girls Trip together — a movie that was produced by Will Packer, who is producing the Academy Awards this year. Packer pushed for Hall, and we've also heard that at one point, Packer reached out to Issa Rae, who has worked with the producer on films such as Little and The Photograph, though she also passed on a hosting slot.
It has already been reported that Packer and the Academy made an overture to the Only Murders in the Building trio of Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez, who are said to have turned down the opportunity due to scheduling issues. But I also heard there was an attempt to lure Gomez away from the show on her own — leaving Martin and Short to shoot their Only Murders scenes while she was away doing Oscars prep — and she would've been paired with Schumer.
It was also reported that Jon Hamm was in talks to co-host the Oscars up until the 11th hour, but no one really asked why it didn't work out. Well, I've heard that he did not get along with Packer, and it was ultimately the producer's way or the highway. Reps for Packer did not respond to requests for comment.