File this one under “you just can’t please everybody.” In our recent 2022 Oscars host poll results that asked viewers to name their favorite emcee of the controversial ceremony, comedy legend Wanda Sykes nabbed the most votes at 19%. It was actually a pretty close vote between the three co-hosts, as Amy Schumer scored 18% and Regina Hall earned 14%. However, almost a third of all poll respondents — 32% to be specific — claimed that “none of them” were their favorite. Ouch! The remaining 17% of voters were non-committal and called it a three-way tie.
Here are the complete poll results in list form:
32% — Ugh — none of them!
19% — Wanda Sykes
18% — Amy Schumer
17% — It’s a three-way tie!
14% — Regina Hall
After going host-less for three broadcasts in a row, the 94th Academy Awards bucked that trend by letting three funny ladies grace the stage together for the first time ever. “This year, the academy hired three women to host because its cheaper than hiring one man,” Schumer stated at the start of the three-and-a-half hour ceremony. She later deadpanned, “This is kind of sad; you know what’s in the In Memoriam package this year? The Golden Globes. They didn’t have any Black people … They had to go.”
Sykes poked fun at some of the notable Oscar snubs, joking, “You know, there was a lot of snubs this year. Rachel Zegler for ‘West Side Story.’ Jennifer Hudson for ‘Respect.’ And Lady Gaga and Jared Leto for ‘House of Random Accents.'” Later, Sykes singled out Governor’s Award recipient Samuel L. Jackson, saying, “I mean, I love him. You know, he’s my guy. But I’ll be honest, there’s a few holes in his resume. No, for real. Like where’s the Sam Jackson rom-com? Like where’s Sam Jackson and Jennifer Lewis in ‘When This Mo-fo Met That Mo-fo,’ you know, or the sequel, ‘Bitch, I said I love you.'”
At one point, Hall brought up several single A-list men from the audience to give them person Covid tests: Simu Liu, Bradley Cooper, Tyler Perry and Timothee Chalamet. “It’s gonna be a typical quick Covid test,” she informed them. “You’ll come backstage, take your mask off (if you have one) and your clothes, and I’m gonna swab the back of your mouth with my tongue … The truth is, we’re still in a pandemic.”
Our poll winner Sykes got her big break in Hollywood after working as the opening act for Chris Rock‘s comedy routine in the early 1990s. That resulted in a writing gig and guest appearances on “The Chris Rock Show” (1997-2000). She won her first and only Emmy for writing that variety program in 1999. To date, Sykes has 14 career Emmy bids under her belt: four for writing “The Chris Rock Show,” six for producing and/or writing various comedy specials, two for guest-starring on “Black-ish” as Daphne Lido, one for guest-starring on “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” as Moms Mabley, and one for her voice-over work on “Crank Yankers.”
Sykes won the BET Comedy Award for her role as Ruby, the loyal assistant to Jane Fonda‘s titular character, in “Monster-in-Law” (2005). Some of the actress’ other notable films include “Bad Moms” (2016), “Evan Almighty” (2007), “Clerks II” (2006), “Pootie Tang” (2001) and the “Ice Age” franchise. For television, she had a starring role in the Fox sitcom “Wanda at Large” (2003) and a supporting gig on “The New Adventures of Old Christine” (2006–2010). In addition to her Emmy-nominated guest stints on “Black-ish” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” she also played a quirky lawyer on three episodes of “The Good Fight.”
