Colin Jost, who is set to host the 2018 Emmys with Michael Che, has already stuck his foot in his mouth.
Jost said in a new interview that he doesn’t actually enjoy awards shows.
“I think most of the time they’re way too self-serious and focused on things that 99 percent of the country doesn’t care about,” the “Saturday Night Live” star told the Los Angeles Times. “At the end of the day, it’s adults getting trophies. Why should that be taken seriously? And remember when movies like ‘Gladiator’ won Best Picture? Why can’t good, fun things win and not just good artsy things?
“They’re both good and the fun ones are sometimes a lot harder to make.”
The Twitterverse immediately responded to Jost’s comments, blaming him for the controversial new popular film category being added to the 2019 Oscars.
“And this is why we have bulls–t like the ‘Popular Film Oscar’: to appease people like Colin Jost who don’t care about recognition of great films because they’re not masc and white enough,” tweeted one user.
“What if Colin Jost is singlehandedly responsible for the popular film Oscar,” mused another.
“I’m determined to start each day by sharing good news! [scans Twitter for at least ten full minutes] Colin Jost is not an Oscar voter,” tweeted another user.
But it wasn’t only Jost’s comments about awards shows that are raising eyebrows. In a separate interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the comedian also brought up the #MeToo movement and said it probably wouldn’t be as big a deal by the time the Emmys roll around in September.
“I think that by [the Emmys], people are going to be desperate to give men a chance, finally,” Jost said. “It’ll probably be #HeToo by then.”
Jost’s rep didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the backlash.