--- title: Why People Think Whoopi Goldberg Might Host the 2019 Oscars description: Some people are speculating that Whoopi Goldberg may show up as the surprise host of the 91st Academy Awards. canonical: https://time.com/5534669/whoopi-goldberg-oscars-2019-host/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-21T17:21:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:06:15.510Z og:title: People Think Whoopi Goldberg Might Be the 2019 Oscars Host og:description: They've got some theories og:url: https://time.com/5534669/whoopi-goldberg-oscars-2019-host/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb14d0824752f1317/6989458eb21a9c3dda500257/whoopi-goldberg-oscars-2019.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Whoopi-Goldberg-Oscars-2019 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: People Think Whoopi Goldberg Might Be the 2019 Oscars Host twitter:description: They've got some theories twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb14d0824752f1317/6989458eb21a9c3dda500257/whoopi-goldberg-oscars-2019.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Why People Think Whoopi Goldberg Might Be Your 2019 Oscars Host > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Feb 21, 2019 5:21 PM UTC  Whoopi Goldberg attends 'Nobody's Fool' New York Premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on October 28, 2018 in New York City. Whoopi Goldberg attends 'Nobody's Fool' New York Premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on October 28, 2018 in New York City. John Lamparski/WireImage  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Feb 21, 2019 5:21 PM UTC With the Academy yet to name a new host for the [2019 Oscars](http://time.com/5530295/2019-oscars-ceremony-mess/) since [Kevin Hart stepped down](https://variety.com/2018/film/awards/kevin-hart-says-the-film-academy-has-given-him-an-ultimatum-apologize-or-well-find-another-oscars-host-1203083698/) in December, it has seemed like the ceremony may go on without someone running the show. But thanks to a little viral detective work, some people are now speculating that [Whoopi Goldberg](http://time.com/5084751/tiffany-haddish-whoopi-goldberg-advice-snl/) may be the surprise host of the 91st Academy Awards. Despite her _The View_ co-host Joy Behar denying the rumor that Goldberg has been secretly tapped as this year’s Oscars host, some people on the Internet seem to think that Goldberg’s recent absence from the talk show means otherwise. “Whoopi’s still out. She’s not feeling well. And there are all these conspiracy theories that she’s not really sick. She’s secretly preparing to host the Oscars,” Behar said during Thursday’s episode of _The View_. “But she’s actually recovering from pneumonia. That’s what she had, it’s a serious thing. So I don’t think she’s going to be able to host the Oscars and I’m sure she’s very disappointed.” Behar’s comments came in response to a [tweet](https://twitter.com/peterknegt/status/1098033983919742976) from CBC Arts producer Peter Knegt in which he outlined the evidence he seems to think supports the host Whoopi theory. “Whoopi Goldberg’s absence from _The View_ (she’s sick, they say) since the day after they announced her as an Oscar presenter+the fact that she’s the only previous Oscar host listed as a presenter+she openly said on _The View_ in January that she’d be up for hosting=???” he wrote. Knegt later issued a correction of his original tweet, noting that Goldberg said she’d be open to hosting in December, not January, and adding that _The View_ also happens to be on the same network that broadcasts the Oscars, ABC. “Correction: she openly said on _The View_ in \*December\* that she’d be up for hosting (pre-Kevin Hart),” he tweeted. “Also additional obvious +: _The View_ is on ABC.” > [](https://twitter.com/peterknegt/status/1098038664368664578) At any rate, Goldberg will be [presenting](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/feb/04/oscars-2019-presenters-whoopi-goldberg-awkwafina-daniel-craig-jennifer-lopez) alongside stars like Awkwafina, Daniel Craig and Jennifer Lopez. Tune in to the 2019 Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. on ABC to see if Whoopi makes a surprise appearance as the awards show’s host. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5534669/whoopi-goldberg-oscars-2019-host/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5534669/whoopi-goldberg-oscars-2019-host/"},"headline":"Here's Why People Think Whoopi Goldberg Might Be Your 2019 Oscars Host","datePublished":"2019-02-21T17:21:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:06:15.510Z","description":"Will the 91st Academy Awards really be host-less?","url":"https://time.com/5534669/whoopi-goldberg-oscars-2019-host/","keywords":["Newsfeed","awards","Whoopi Goldberg","onetime","oscars 2019"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb14d0824752f1317/6989458eb21a9c3dda500257/whoopi-goldberg-oscars-2019.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb14d0824752f1317/6989458eb21a9c3dda500257/whoopi-goldberg-oscars-2019.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Whoopi-Goldberg-Oscars-2019","caption":"Whoopi Goldberg attends 'Nobody's Fool' New York Premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on October 28, 2018 in New York City.","creditText":"John Lamparski/WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5534669/whoopi-goldberg-oscars-2019-host/","name":"Here's Why People Think Whoopi Goldberg Might Be Your 2019 Oscars Host"}}]}] ```