Michael Che: “Comedians Should Boycott Hosting Award Shows”

After a lack-luster performance as the host of the 2024 Globe Awards this past weekend, comedian Jo Koy is facing some criticism. Now, coming to the defense of comedian hosts — err, just trying to explain the mess — is another veteran of hosting a major award show: Saturday Night Live’s Micheal Che, who’s said that he thinks “comedians should boycott hosting award shows” outright.

Sharing his thoughts on Instagram, Che explained that even though the notion of a comedian hosting a nationally-televised event like an award show is appealing, the execution rarely ever comes out right. “For one, it’s very difficult to make movie stars laugh — they’re way too self-conscious to have a good time,” he wrote. “Two, they don’t even WANT to laugh. They’re too busy thinking about their careers, their speeches, and their ‘cause.’ They THINK they wanna be made fun of, but they actually don’t. They actually just want their trophy. And a nice photo.”

Driving the point home, Che painted an image of what it’s like: “Imagine right before game 7 of the NBA finals, you had to go in the locker room and make LeBron laugh.”

Che, alongside his SNL Weekend Update co-host, Colin Jost, hosted the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2018, which surely is informing his perspective. “My point is: it’s not fun for anybody,” he wrote. “Trust me. I know everybody. We all hate it.”

In the comments of the post, Che offered some further analysis on why the “comedian vs. Hollywood stars” mash-up doesn’t always work. “See, fans want a comedian to go up there and shit on all these celebrities, make the room tense and weird, so they can enjoy it from the safety of their couch,” he wrote. “I get it. It’s funny. But that’s not hosting. I feel like if you despise Hollywood so much you wanna insult everybody, then why say yes?”

Additionally, Che also called out Hollywood for not respecting comedians. “If they did, Eddie Murphy and Jim Carrey would have about three Oscars each… and for their COMEDY movies!” he wrote. “Not the dramas they had to do so they could be taken seriously.”

Reaffirming his opposition, Che wrote: “So, they expect us to host the Oscars but won’t even nominate us? Fuck that. Get a magician!”

Then, on an ever-so-Michael-Che note, he closed his rant with an open ending. “I will NEVER host a Hollywood award show… UNLESS I am asked,” he concluded.

So, whether we’ll see Che don his nicest hosting tuxedo again or not is unknown. What we do know, though, is that the comedian has teased fans about new stand-up content, sharing to his Instagram story shortly before his hosting rant that he “Might tape a short stand-up special this month. Fuck it.”