Ellen DeGeneres and Jimmy Kimmel are the favourites to replace Kevin Hart as the host of the forthcoming the 91st Academy Awards.

Hart was forced to walk away after a series of homophobic tweets and a string of anti-gay jokes made during his stand-up routines nearly 10 years ago emerged. Hart attempted to delete all the aforementioned tweets during the day and initially refused to step down from his position as MC, posting a video on Instagram, saying: “My team calls me, ‘Oh my God, Kevin, everyone’s upset by tweets you did years ago,’” he said in that video.

Despite his defiance, hours later a tweet followed from Hart in which he has now decided to step down from the role: “I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year’s Oscars,” he wrote.



Now the Academy faces yet another chaotic scramble in running to the event, desperately searching for a suitable replacement. As the search continues, bookmakers believe the Academy will turn to old friends to find a solution.

Ellen DeGeneres, who has hosted the event twice before in 2007 and 2017, is the current bookies favourite to step up again when the event takes place on February 25th. Comedian Jon Stewart, who hosted the Oscars in 2006 and 2008, is the second favourite at 3/1.

Jimmy Kimmel, who has hosted the last two Oscars events, is the third favourite at 4/1. Oh, Will Ferrell and John C Reilly have been made 20/1 in the running… just for fun:

Odds on Oscars 2019 host: