Billy Crystal To Host Oscar’s For Ninth Time

Billy Crystal confirmed on Thursday that he is replacing Eddie Murphy as the host of the 84th Annual Academy Awards, the ninth such time Crystal will handle MC duties for the Oscars.

In joke form on Twitter Crystal tweeted:

“Am doing the Oscars so the young woman in the pharmacy will stop asking my name when I pick up my prescriptions.”

Crystal then wrote:

“Looking forward to the show.”

While he appeared to be joking around two sources have confirmed with to the Los Angeles Times that Crystal will be working alongside super-producer Brian Grazer to make the show a success.

Eddie Murphy quit the show on Wednesday after his Tower Heist director Brett Ratner resigned over a homophobic slur he made just a few days earlier.

Brian Grazer produced Tower Heist which led to some speculation that Eddie Murphy could come back on-board up until the time that Billy Crystal was announced.

At the age of 63 Crystal will be the oldest solo host for the awards show since Bob Hope handled Oscar hosting duties in 1978.

Crystal expressed interest in the job during an August performance at the Aero theater in Santa Monica, California. During his performance Crystal revealed:

“It got to be too much after a while and the sameness in my life,” he said. “That’s why I pulled back. And then when I thought I might want to do it again, they were on to other people. It’s always fun. It’s really hard, but maybe one or two more times? I don’t know. They know where I am.”

Will you be tuning in to watch Billy Crystal once again host the awards show and were you hoping for an Eddie Murphy helmed show?

[Image via Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com]