Alright, enough with this will he, won't he back and forth. We've now got three sources (aside from the Twitter-trolling NY Post) who confirmed that Billy Crystal is in fact replacing Eddie Murphy as the 2012 Oscar host.
Murphy dropped out of the hallowed Oscar host spot after the show's former producer, Brett Ratner, made some seriously questionable comments and pulled out as the show's backer. Since then, the internet's been in a tizzy over who should host the ceremony -- my personal pick would have been Glee hearthrob Darren Criss. Since then, Crystal took to his Twitter to prematurely announce his hosting gig and subsequently send Twitter into a frenzy over decoding his 140 character message. Crystal wrote:
Am doing the Oscars so the young woman in the pharmacy will stop asking my name when I pick up my prescriptions. Looking forward to the show.
Since then, Academy sources have confirmed to a few outlets that Crystal is indeed Murphy's successor, making this the ninth time he'll host the ceremony. Sure, the decision is a bit uninspired, but after last year's display, maybe going youthful with the telecast isn't such a great idea. They're sticking with the comedy greats and we're sure Crystal will be charming and fantastic -- just like he was the last eight times.
Source: Variety, Deadline, LA Times