"Oscars host? Who's it gonna be? Lots of tension. Who's gonna break the tension?" Bryant said as Gadsby. "I would host but in the middle of it, I quit hosting. Too much tension."
The Oscars hosting role is still vacant after Kevin Hart pulled out over a series of anti-gay tweets he posted a few years ago.
"I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's …. this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists," Hart told fans on Instagram. "I sincerely apologise to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past.
"I'm sorry that I hurt people. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart.
"Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again."
Speaking about the academy's decision to pick Hart in the first place, Matthew Belloni, the editorial director of The Hollywood Reporter, said "I think it's embarrassing".
"It shows that they either didn't vet this host properly, or they did vet him and didn't think this would be an issue. And both are a little troubling."
Hart seemed to fit the bill for what the academy was looking for. "He checks all the boxes for a show like the Oscars," Belloni said. "He's a legitimate movie star. He's a funny guy and can handle the stand-up element of the show. And he has a gigantic social following. And to the academy, that's important. They want someone who can bring a new audience to the show."
But Oscars hosts have always been subjected to a lot of scrutiny. Poor or even mediocre performances can haunt people for years (Anne Hathaway and James Franco). Off-colour jokes have a way of festering in the cultural consciousness (think of Seth MacFarlane's "we saw your boobs" song, or Chris Rock's Asian jokes). And even when things go decently enough, everyone is handed the right envelope and nobody walks away offended, the hosts can still be blamed for poor ratings.
"Oscars host has become a not very desirable job in Hollywood. Very few people see an upside," Belloni said. "You put a huge target on your back."
Now everyone has an opinion about who should be named host. A woman? A comedian? Not a comedian? Someone in the LGBTQ community? All of the above?
Many keep coming back to Whoopi Goldberg, who has hosted the awards four times. Some have said Ellen DeGeneres, who hosted one of the Oscars' highest-rated shows, or Tom Hanks, who has a longstanding academy relationship.
Others have said Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, Will Smith or Lin-Manuel Miranda. Busy Phillips threw her own name out there ("I AM AVAILABLE," she tweeted). Philips also proposed Issa Rae, Sarah Silverman, Ali Wong, Samantha Bee, Robin Thede and Aisha Tyler, or "any other woman working in Hollywood right now who wants to."
Stephen King suggested Patton Oswalt (He's "funny, sharp- tongued, and he knows film," King tweeted.) Some have even proposed no host at all, which has been done several times before, and as recently as 1989.
But the film academy needs to move quickly. The 91st Oscars are less than three months out.
