Ricky Gervais delivered a shock two-word response to fans who are wanting him to host the 2026 Oscars.
The acclaimed comedian, 64, has famously hosted the Golden Globes five times, with his last stint being in 2020.
Gervais’s brutal mocking of ‘woke’ Hollywood as well as his refusal to ‘pander to the 200 egos in the room’ gained him popularity with viewers at home.
And on Sunday, Gervais set the record straight on if he would ever consider taking over from Conan O’Brien as host of the Academy Awards.
Gervais did so while replying to a tweet encouraging X users to ‘repost’ if they ‘wish @rickygervais was hosting the #Oscars tonight.
The fan’s tweet included a full-length clip of Gervais’s viral 2020 Golden Globes opening monologue, where he skewered A-lister egos and even made a jab about the Epstein list.
After catching wind of the tweet, Gervais bluntly replied, ‘F*** that!’ followed by a laughing-crying emoji.
Ricky Gervais delivered a shock two-word response to fans who are wanting him to host the 2026 Oscars; seen hosting the Golden Globes in 2020
After seeing fans on social media wanting him to be the host of the 2026 ceremony, Gervais bluntly replied, ‘F*** that!’ followed by a laughing-crying emoji
Gervais first served as Golden Globes host in 2010 and remained in the role for three consecutive years.
He was asked back again in 2016 and he hosted for a final time four years later in 2020.
While Gervais was often depicted as ‘brutal’ and ‘harsh’ when it came to roasting Hollywood stars to their faces, he claimed to Variety that it was all ‘marketing’ and that he would only ‘pretend to be a loose cannon.’
‘I write those jokes. I look at them from every angle. I make sure they’re bulletproof. I go out with a beer, I pretend to be a loose cannon, but I’m not. I’m never drunk. I have like a sip. And I can justify anything,’ he told the outlet last year.
‘I’m never that brutal. It just seems like it.’
The 98th Academy Awards are celebrating the best films of 2025, with the glitzy ceremony taking place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
O’Brien, 62, is returning to host the show for a second consecutive year after taking over the role from late-night great Jimmy Kimmel.
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners leads the pack with a record-breaking 16 nominations, the most for any film in Academy Awards history.
The horror flick is one of the ten films up for Best Picture alongside Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value and Train Dreams.
Gervais has famously hosted the Golden Globes five times, with his last stint being in 2020′ seen at the 2020 ceremony
Conan O’Brien, 62, is returning to host the show for a second consecutive year on Sunday night;
Sinners star Michael B. Jordan faces a stacked Best Actor category, competing against fellow nominees Timothee Chalamet (Marty Supreme), Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon), and Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent).
Set in 1930s Mississippi, Sinners follows twin brothers (both played by Jordan) who return to their hometown only to face a supernatural evil.
The Best Actor race is currently a dead heat. While Chalamet dominated the early season with wins at the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards, the momentum shifted after Jordan won at the Actor Awards, formerly known as the SAG Awards.
Adding to the tension, the ceremony arrives on the heels of Chalamet’s controversial comments about how ‘no one cares’ about ballet or opera, which sparked a wave of backlash from the arts community.
Based on the life of professional ping-pong player Marty Reisman, Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme stars Chalamet as a table tennis prodigy in 1950s New York whose ambition to become world champion jeopardizes his personal relationships.
Irish star Jessie Buckley is the frontrunner in the Best Actress category for her work in Hamnet. She faces a star-studded field including Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I would Kick You), Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue), Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value), and Emma Stone (Bugonia).
Helmed by 2021’s Best Director winner Chloe Zhao, Hamnet dives into the reimagined story of William Shakespeare’s home life and how the death of his 11-year-old son provided the emotional blueprint for his masterpiece, Hamlet.
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners leads the pack with a record-breaking 16 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan
Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another landed in second place with 13 nominations, including Best Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio, Supporting Actor nods for Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn, as well as a Supporting Actress nomination for Teyana Taylor
Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another earned 13 nominations.
Along with a Best Director nod, the film also nabbed a Best Actor mention for DiCaprio, and Supporting Actor nods for Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn.
The black comedy action-thriller follows a washed-up ex-revolutionary (DiCaprio) who is forced to come out from hiding to rescue his daughter, after she is targeted by his former nemesis, a corrupt military officer (Penn).
Aside from Penn and del Toro, the Best Supporting Actor category includes Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein), Delroy Lindo (Sinners) and Stellan Skarsgard (Sentimental Value).
Paul Mescal (Hamnet), Adam Sandler (Jay Kelly), and Jesse Plemons (Bugonia) were the most notable snubs from the category.
Frankenstein and Sentimental Value both earned nine nominations at this year’s ceremony.
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is a lavish reimagining of Mary Shelley’s classic, focusing on a heart-wrenching tale of a father’s rejection and a creature’s quest for love.
Meanwhile, Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value follows two sisters forced to reconcile with their estranged filmmaker father.
Marty Supreme, directed by Josh Safdie, netted nine Oscar nods, with leading man Timothee Chalamet up for Best Actor and the movie nominated for Best Picture
Irish star Jessie Buckley is the frontrunner in the Best Actress category for her work in Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet, which is also up for Best Picture
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein secured nine nominations. Leading the film’s acting honors is Jacob Elordi, who earned a Best Supporting Actor nod for his portrayal of the Creature
Nominees for Best Supporting Actress include Elle Fanning (Sentimental Value), Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (Sentimental Value), Amy Madigan (Weapons), Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners) and Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another).
There was a massive backlash after Ariana Grande was snubbed in the Supporting category for Wicked: For Good.
She had been nominated last year for her work in the first film of the musical franchise.
Wicked: For Good was completely shut out of nominations. This came despite an acclaimed leading performance by Cynthia Erivo, as well as new songs written for the film, including No Place Like Home and The Girl In The Bubble.
Gwyneth Paltrow was also left off the list in the category for her work in Marty Supreme.
There was a new award announced this year for Best Casting as the inaugural field includes: Nina Gold – Hamnet, Jennifer Venditti – Marty Supreme, Cassandra Kulukundis – One Battle After Another, Gabriel Domingues – The Secret Agent, and Francine Maisler – Sinners.
The ceremony kicks off at 7pm ET/ 4pm PT, airing live on ABC and streaming live on Hulu. It will also be streaming via Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV and FuboTV.
