If you were hoping to land a gig hosting the Oscars as a means of paying off your student loans, there might be a few holes in your plan. On top of some of the more obvious ones (how many millions of dollars have you already made to prove that you’re bankable?), it turns out that the most thankless job in show business is also one of its lowest paid. At least that’s what Jimmy Kimmel claimed on L.A.-based KROQ’s morning show The Kevin & Bean Show yesterday, UPI reports.
While discussing his upcoming February 26 appointment to appear live on ABC and be roundly criticized by millions of people all around the world, the late night host revealed that he’s only being paid $15,000 for his MC duties, which he believes to be on par with what hosts have earned in recent years. “You know why?” he asked rhetorically of the wafer-thin paycheck. “I think it’s illegal to pay nothing.”
Kimmel—who was generally applauded for his work hosting the Emmy Awards back in September—later expressed a modicum of regret for having let the very small and somewhat malnourished cat out of the bag, saying “I’m not sure I was supposed to reveal this. But nobody told me not to. I consider this their fault.”