The 97thAcademy Awardsare just around the corner, airing live on ABC and streaming live on Hulu on Sunday, June 08, 2025, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.Conan O’Brienwill be hosting (for the first time, surprisingly), and the event is set to also work as abenefit for victims of the L.A. wildfiresin January, with much of the ceremony themed around Los Angeles. At a recent press conference with the Oscars' creative team, O’Brien joined Raj Kapoor (executive producer and showrunner), Katy Mullan (executive producer), Rob Paine (co-executive producer), Mike Sweeney (producer and writer), Jon Macks (writer), Michael Bearden (music director), Alana Billingsley (production designer), and Mandy Moore (supervising choreographer). O’Brien answered some questions in his comedically elliptical way, first describing who we can expect to be prime targets for his jokes.
“I think Ron Howard has been riding too high, too long. Tom Hanks, too. Those are just two people,” said O’Brien in deadpan seriousness. “People always think, ‘Oh, they’re a nice person. What a great guy.’ No one has a bad thing to say about him. I’m going to take them both down. I think I don’t want to go after the villains that you’re used to people going after.” O’Brien continued:
“I really want to tear down people who are beloved, people who are really good at what they do, who’ve stood the test of time. So I hope Spielberg’s there, because I’m going to go after every one of his films. George Lucas. I don’t care. I don’t believe in this whole thing, ‘Oh, what an icon, what a nice guy, what a nice woman.’ Not going to happen! I go after all the people that are the most beloved and leave anyone who’s got any shady past, I’m going to leave them completely alone. No one’s going to see that coming.”
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O’Brien then attempted to tease what his hosting performance would consist of. While he did mention that he’d spoken withprevious Oscar hostsJimmy Kimmel and Billy Crystal to discuss their experiences, O’Brien was tight-lipped as to whether he’d do a musical performance, dress up as The Wizard of Oz, do political humor, or anything else. “Well, first of all, I can neither confirm nor deny what’s happening anywhere in the show, mostly because I haven’t been paying attention, and so I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know. I don’t come to rehearsal. I hang out at a Cheesecake Factory on Vine & Highland. I suggest you try it out. It’s the best Cheesecake Factory.” O’Brien added:
“So I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going to happen there, and in terms of what I might be doing, I can’t say that either, because the whole trick here in this business is to get people to watch, to see what’s going to happen. See, this is a mistake I used to make. I used to tell people exactly what I was going to do long before I did it, and then no one tuned in. Then I learned, don’t tell people what you’re going to do. A magician taught me that.”
“So I can’t tell you what I’m going to do. Other than that, I’m going to be in the best physical shape of my life,” continued O’Brien, eliciting snickering laughter from people around him. Someone reminds O’Brien that he just said he’s been practically living at the Cheesecake Factory. “Well, it’s not all highly caloric. There’s a couple of low-caloric foods in there. I just haven’t found them yet.” He went on:
Listen, I’m going to be in incredible shape. I’m going to do things with my body you’ve never seen before. You have to watch the entire show, because it’s just going to be towards the end. You’re going to think, ‘How is he even doing this? No human being his age has ever done this before, and I’m going to go to the hospital afterwards. That’s a guarantee.
Conan O’Brien’s Serious Philosophy of Hosting
O’Brien did get genuine when asked how much of the real world’s problems he’d be bringing into his hosting gig, from international wars and genocide to the L.A. fires and government firings. “My philosophy on this is, as the host, I’m the spokesperson. In a way, I am the person who’s sitting in for anyone who’s watching at home. If something happens that seems funny or strange, I should comment on it, as in the way that someone who’s watching their home, whether it’s in the United States or anywhere in the world, would want me to.” O’Brien added:
“I think as host, I cannot ignore the moment we’re in, but I also have to remember it’s threading a needle. I also have to remember what we’re here to celebrate and infuse the show with positivity and also shine a light on all these people who’ve worked incredibly hard, not just A-list celebrities, but people that you never see, craftspeople that work incredibly hard and have spent years making these films.”
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“And so I want to make sure that we address where we are in this moment, on March 2, at this time,” concluded O’Brien, “but I do it with humor and that I also make sure that the night doesn’t drift into only about that. Because I think that’s robbing people of something after the beautiful, hard work they’ve done, and so it’s a difficult walk, but I’m determined to figure it out.” We’re sure he will.
Hosted by Conan O’Brien, the Oscars will air live on ABC and stream live on Hulu on Sunday, June 08, 2025, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, with the official live red carpet show airing at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.
