Oscars 2022: How much do hosts get paid? Wanda Sykes says 'gonna cost me money'

There's a lot of money that goes into hosting the Annual Academy Awards, but have you ever wondered how much moolah the hosts bring in?
UPDATED MAR 27, 2022
Wanda Sykes on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' (youtube/Jimmy Kimmel Live!)
Wanda Sykes on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' (youtube/Jimmy Kimmel Live!)

The year 2022 is finally here and with that comes one of the biggest nights for the entertainment industry. That's right, the Annual Academy Awards popularly known as the Oscars is here once more to honor and shine a light on some of the best works by the industry. 

While the Oscars may slowly but surely be losing significance for its 'snubs' and for heaping praise on others that the audience didn't love, it still continues to be one of the biggest awards that an artist is bestowed with. A lot goes into the star-studded night with the hosts carrying a large amount of the weight. From entertaining dialogues to holding the attention of the attendees and ensuring a smooth show, they shoulder quite the responsibility. So if you've ever wondered how much they get paid to do so, then definitely continue reading on as it may not be what you think.

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Who's hosting the 94th Annual Academy Awards?

For those who didn't know the 94th Annual Academy Awards will be having multiple hosts this time around. Three hosts consisting of actress Regina Hall, comedian-actress Amy Schumer, and actress, comedian, writer Wanda Sykes will serve as the MCs for the 2022 Oscars. All three are well known, so you'd expect that they'd be paid well according to their caliber right? Wrong.

Wanda Sykes who recently made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel's show 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' dished on how much she was bringing in as a host and well it's not what you would have expected.



 

 How much do the hosts of the Oscars get paid?

Wanda Sykes who forms one-third of a trio of hosts divulged the details of her being asked to host the huge event. Jimmy asked her when, how and by whom was she recruited to which she said that she received the request while she was working on Season 2 of  ' The Upshaws'. Her agent was contacted by one of the producers and although initially hesitant due to already having a lot on her plate, she was excited and said yes to co-hosting the event. Kimmel who previously hosted as well agreed with her about naturally agreeing to do so which is when Sykes spilled on a realization she had. 

Saying that out of all the jobs she had, she realized that this one is actually going to cost her money, to which Kimmel replied in the affirmative saying, "It is going to cost you money", and proceeded to ask if she could tell them how much she gets paid for the gig. Sykes replied saying, “I don’t even know it’s, like, scale probably,”. The term 'Scale' applies to those in the union, SAG-AFTRA. Scale for a low-budget film in 2022 is about $686 per day or $2,382 per week. Confirming that the job isn’t known for paying well Kimmel said it less than that and shared that he was paid $15, 000 to host the show and joked that since there are three hosts this year, they'll probably have to split the amount. 



 

Jimmy Kimmel says Sykes is 'getting robbed' 

Explaining further he said that it's months of work and that she was actually 'getting robbed' and suggested holding out as the show is in need to hosts. Sykes joked that she has already decided to steal Oscar as a way to compensate herself. She then shared the hosting pattern that the trio that would follow and said,  “We’re going to share a monologue at the top of the show, and then you’ll see us in different setups. Either we’ll be together, it might be two of us, it might be one of us, who knows?”

But the conversation eventually came back to money. Sykes told Kimmel she’ll have a drink after the first act. “I’m here to have fun, it’s not like I’m getting paid,” the comedian quipped. “Get what you pay for. You want sober Wanda, you gotta add some more zeroes and move that comma. You’re getting Free Wanda.”



 

The Oscars air live on ABC Sunday, March 27 at 8 p.m. ET.

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