Comedian Kevin Hart to host 2019 Academy Awards

LOS ANGELES — Comedian Kevin Hart will host the next Academy Awards ceremony in February 2019, the "Ride Along" actor said in an Instagram post on Tuesday.

"I am so happy to say that the day has finally come for me to host the Oscars," Hart wrote. The Academy Awards are the film industry's highest honors.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organizes the Oscars and normally announces the host, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hart, 39, follows talk show host Jimmy Kimmel who took on the gig in 2018 and 2017.

"I am blown away simply because this has been a goal on my list for a long time," Hart wrote on his Instagram page. —Reuters