The award season is straightening out its odds in handling the heavyweight scales of television and cinematic success. With one trophy ceremony closing heel on another, publications have been on the flare of exacting predictions of cinematic geniuses. Beginning from the Golden Globes, currently, the Tinseltown saviors are walking into the March issue of recognition period with the 96th Oscar Award ceremony by the Recording Academy. For this year’s Oscar ceremony, the host is expected to present the event for the fourth time.

As the event is scheduled to be held on March 10th, let’s get to know the host for this season. 

The host for the 96th Oscar Awards

The 96th Oscar ceremony is slated for unfolding on Sunday, March 10th to honor the artists who rattled the cinematic field with their master strokes. This time, marking his fourth Oscar hosting, James Christian Kimmel, better known as Jimmy Kimmel, is supposed to take authority on the stage. Just days ago, the Academy released a new promo for the event with Kimmel’s touchdown at the Weird Barbieland with the Oscar-nominated Ryan Gosling.

While the promo guides Kimmel back to the path of Hollywood after his momentary disorientation, it sparks curiosity. After hosting three Oscar ceremonies, who requires direction to their rightful space?

Jimmy Kimmel’s contribution to the Academy

The American comedian, Jimmy Kimmel, is anything but a newbie to the hosting game. Rather, very select few emcees have been as seasoned as Kimmel since his tie with the Recording Academy goes way back in time. Back in 2017, the talk show host spread his first wings for the Oscars as he anchored the event’s boat for the 89th edition. Then, he again made a revisit to the trophy land for the 90th Oscars in 2018.

Following a sizeable gap, he returned for the 95th edition last year. And now, he will mark his fourth appearance at the upcoming Oscars. While his return to the Oscars makes him one of the preferred picks, it makes people wonder if the Oscar paycheck looks as glittery as the event.

How much does Jimmy Kimmel get paid for hosting the Oscars?

If not for Jimmy Kimmel himself, the world would remain still unaware of the Oscar paycheck. Wanda Skyes, who co-hosted the Oscars with Regina Hall and Amy Schumer, once stopped by his talk show in 2022 to delve into the host’s paycheck for the Oscars. After referring to the minimum pay scale the union members get paid, Kimmel took the helm of the subject to share his own experience having hosted two Oscars. He said quite explicitly that he took a paycheck of “$15,000” which was “less” than what Skyes took home.

While he is not the first celebrity to talk about Oscar’s paycheck, the figure did take the fans aback. While Kimmel is now an established runner in the soil of announcers, it all became possible only because of his solid presence in Tinseltown. But how did he carve his niche out? 

Jimmy Kimmel’s career

Jimmy Kimmel has had his eyes on success since he was a high-school goer. To chart the roads leading to triumph, he began that early as a radio host for UNLV’s college station, KUNV for Sunday night interviews. Leaping for a similar job in college, he finally landed his first paid project in 1989 for The Me and Him show. From there onwards, he worked back and forth on radio channels, eventually leading to his trials on television.

Despite his intentions to not opt for a television career, his journey with Fox began as a writer to on-air promotional announcers. After refusing several offers from television big bodies, he became a comedic counterpart to Ben Stein on Win Ben Stein’s Money on Comedy Central. Then onwards, he co-hosted and co-produced several shows for the channel. Besides the Oscars, he even hosted the Emmy Awards twice. Cutting chase to the 2000s, Kimmel commenced his talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Despite the name, the show has not been on air since 2004 because of censor issues, making him one of the most controversial hosts of all time.

Jimmy Kimmel’s controversial digs

The 2022 Oscar Awards were famous for two things, the no holds-barred-quips by Chris Rock leading to the infamous slap incident between him and Will Smith. Having been explicit since day one, when Jimmy Kimmel returned to host the Oscars in 2023, he wasted little time to send the audience back to the Oscar slap. For his opening monologue, he pressed on the matter of “safety” but mostly his, as a host.

Quickly picking up the pace, he served the reminder of having “strict policies” for the venue. Therefore, if anyone resorts to the violence of any kind, he joked, “will be awarded the Oscar for ‘Best Actor’”. The comedian even teased the Academy for curating an alleged “crisis team”, especially for the purpose. Currently, Kimmel is again at the edge of the gun, facing alleged lawsuit repercussions worth $750,000 from the former US representative, George Santos.

While his professional life may be wrapped in controversies from either end, the same is quite the opposite of his present domestic life.

Jimmy Kimmel’s life and family

Jimmy Kimmel tied the knot with Gina Maddy back in 1988. After enjoying a blissful life with two children, the pair opted for a divorce in 2002. Following that, Kimmel was dating Sarah Silverman for around 7 years, becoming People’s Funniest Couple Alive. Although that boat did not sail through the next decade, Kimmel chose the wedding bells with Molly McNearney in 2013.

The pair share two children, a daughter, and a son, and are currently living at the peak of their domestic bliss. The 96th Oscar night might witness Kimmel’s better half in the crowd. To witness this and the iconic Barbeinheimer face off yet again at this year’s ceremony, do not forget to check your streaming options for the night. While one awaits to see who takes the Oscar home, let’s see if Jimmy Kimmel can make it spicier for the audience.

Did you know all of this about the Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel? Let us know in the comments below.