Did Oscar® producers snub Billy Crystal when they hired Eddie Murphy to host the next Academy Awards®? INSIDE EDITION reports.
Did Oscar® producers snub Billy Crystal when they chose Eddie Murphy as the next host?
That's the question swirling today after it was reported that Crystal had been campaigning for his old job.
Crystal has hosted the Oscars® eight times, most recently in 2004.
He recently said he was "itchy" to host again.
"It's always fun," Crystal said.
Jerry Seinfeld is also said to have contacted the Academy Awards® about hosting, but he too was passed over.
The America's Got Talent judges reacted favorably to Murphy's selection:
"I think he's funny, I think he's talented, and I think it's just what the Oscars® needs," Howie Mandel told INSIDE EDITION.
"I am so excited, I can't begin to tell you," Sharon Osbourne said.
Piers Morgan joked, "Eddie Murphy, live for four hours at the Oscars®, good luck everyone!"
Whoopi Goldberg, herself a former Oscar® host, got behind Murphy too.
"I think it's a great idea because Eddie's funny, he will recognize when there's a lull," said Goldberg.
But not everyone's wild about Murphy.
One columnist in the Los Angeles Times says the actor "feels like a relic from another age."
"It's hard to think of a comedian with a career that is more in eclipse than Murphy," he writes.
We'll find out on Oscar® night if Murphy is a golden child or a Beverly Hills flop.
