Former president Donald Trump has weighed in on the Oscars ratings disaster, urging “these television people” to not be “so politically correct and boring” or partisan in favor of the Democrats.
In a statement on Tuesday that read much like his trademark tweets – before Twitter banned him from the platform in January – Trump blasted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for changing the name of the Academy Awards to a “far less important and elegant name” and getting the lowest ratings in recorded history.
“If they keep with the current ridiculous formula, it will only get worse – if that's possible,” he added.
Former President Donald Trump offers some notes about how to save the once-popular Academy Award ceremony, which has hemorrhaged viewers in recent years. pic.twitter.com/uEE4cGj4sh
“These television people spend all their time thinking about how to promote the Democrat Party, which is destroying our Country, and cancel Conservatives and Republicans,” Trump added, noting that such a formula “certainly hasn't worked very well” for AMPAS.
The 45th president urged the Academy to “go back 15 years,” restore the old name of the ceremony, “don't be so politically correct and boring, and do it right.” Oh, and “bring back a great host.”
The last time the Oscars had a host was in 2018, with late-night talk show host – and prominent Democrat activist – Jimmy Kimmel in the role. Viewership for that ceremony dropped by 6.4 million from the year before.
British comedian Ricky Gervais has also made fun of the host-less Oscars, tweeting a bit from his 2020 roast of the US entertainment industry at the Golden Globe awards and asking “Was it something I said?”
The change from the 'Academy Awards' to just the 'Oscars' happened quietly back in 2013, and seemed to be a marketing decision. Viewership has been in steady decline ever since.
The choice to forego a host was deliberate this year, as producer – and acclaimed Hollywood director – Steven Soderbergh told Vanity Fair. According to the director, the coronavirus pandemic offered a chance for a more “experimental” presentation.
“There’s an opportunity here to rebuild what this show should look and feel like,” Soderbergh said.
His experiment doesn’t seem to have worked, though, as fewer than ten million viewers tuned into Sunday’s telecast – a massive drop from last year’s 23.6 million, already a record low.
While Trump may not be popular among the Hollywood set – they overwhelmingly donated and campaigned for his opponent both in 2016 and 2020 – he does know a thing or three about ratings, having made himself and NBC millions by hosting the reality show ‘The Apprentice’ for fourteen seasons.
When Trump left to campaign for president, NBC replaced him with actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger – but the show’s ratings plummeted and Schwarzenegger left after just two months.
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