Kevin Hart just announced that he was named as host of the 91st Academy Awards. He becomes the fourth African-American to host the awards show, including Richard Pryor, Whoopi Goldberg, and Chris Rock.

Variety reported that Hart made the announcement on Instagram saying that hosting the Oscars would be the opportunity of a lifetime and that he's excited the day has finally arrived for him to host the annual awards. The Academy Awards will air on ABC on Feb. 24. Jimmy Kimmel hosted the last two award shows but announced that he would not be returning.

Hart told Variety last year that he had a desire to emcee the major award show.

91st Academy Awards under new leadership

Producers Donna Gigliotti and Glenn Weiss, will oversee the 91st Academy Awards for the first time. Gigliotti will work as producer and Weiss will take the lead as co-producer and director. The last two Oscar shows saw a rating decline, with a record 26.5 million tuned in for the 2018 Academy Awards.

Kevin Hart has taken the job, despite a massive schedule. Hart recently starred in the comedy "Night School," which claimed the biggest comedy opening weekend of 2018. His company Hartbeat Productions also has several projects in development. Hart's "The Next Level" and "Hart of the City" is airing on Comedy Central and his other two shows "Cold as Balls" and "What the Fit" on Hart's streaming platform the LOL Network.

The Academy has changed the way the show runs

The Academy has decided to shorten the show, saying it will not run over three hours. They have also said that not all the winners will be revealed live. At least six will be revealed will be announced during commercial breaks in front of the audience. The Academy will also edit excerpts of acceptance speeches which will be aired later in the show.

AV Club has reported that last summer, the Academy announced the possibility of a new award, called the "popular," Oscar. It would be used to honor outstanding achievement in popular film, making sure that box office successes have a place at the awards. However, the Academy ended up ditching the idea a month later.

While this is Hart's first time hosting the Oscars, he previously hosted the MTV Movie Awards, with his former co-star Dwayne Johnson.

In 2015, Kevin Hart told "Live With Kelly and Michael" that he was campaigning to get the hosting gig. It will be interesting to see if Kevin Hart uses his stage to spread some kind of message or awareness.
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