EDDIE MURPHY WITHDRAWS AS OSCAR HOST

Eddie Murphy has bowed out of his gig as host of the Academy Awards, following pal Brett Ratner's decision to leave the show as producer because of an uproar over a gay slur.

The news of Murphy's departure came Wednesday, a day after Ratner quit as producer of the Feb. 26 show.

Ratner left amid criticism of his use of a pejorative term for gay men in a question-and-answer session at a screening of his action comedy "Tower Heist," which opened last weekend and stars Murphy and Ben Stiller.

Murphy's exit deprives Oscar organizers of a top star for an often thankless job that's tough to fill, since some past hosts have found little to gain from the gig and plenty to lose if they do a poor job as emcee of Hollywood's biggest party.

The two sides departed with cordial words, though.

"I completely understand and support each party's decision with regard to a change of producers for this year's Academy Awards ceremony," Murphy said in a news release from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "I was truly looking forward to being a part of the show that our production team and writers were just starting to develop, but I'm sure that the new production team and host will do an equally great job."

Academy President Tom Sherak bid Murphy farewell graciously.

"I appreciate how Eddie feels about losing his creative partner, Brett Ratner, and we all wish him well," Sherak said.

Still, losing Murphy is a blow to a ceremony that has struggled to pep up its image amid a general decline in its TV ratings over the last couple of decades and a rush of hipper awards shows that appeal to younger crowds, such as the MTV Movie Awards.

Oscar planners have sought to shorten the sometimes interminably long show and have tried new ways to present awards in hopes of livening things up.

They also have experimented with unexpected choices as hosts, which worked nicely with the song-and-dance talents of Hugh Jackman three years ago but backfired at last season's show, when perky Anne Hathaway was paired with lackluster co-host James Franco.

When the academy picked Murphy in September, it marked a return to the traditional funnyman as host, a formula that delivered some of the best-remembered Oscar pageants when Bob Hope, Johnny Carson and Billy Crystal ran the show.

Academy officials would not discuss the personnel changes or plans to replace Ratner and Murphy. Ratner's producing partner for the upcoming ceremony - Don Mischer, who co-produced last year's Oscars - remains on board for the show.

Any decision on who will replace Murphy as host likely will not come until Oscar planners make a decision on whether to bring in another producer to work with Mischer.

Organizers still have plenty of time. The show is more than three months away, and much of the work in staging it has to wait until Oscar nominations are announced Jan. 24, anyway.

There's also no great rush to name a new host. The academy did not announce Hathaway and Franco as hosts until the end of November last year, while the announcement on Jackman three years ago did not come until mid-December.

SHOTLIST (including transcript):-

AP Entertainment

New York, 24 October 2011

1. Wide of Eddie Murphy on red carpet

2. Wide shot Murphy speaking to reporters

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Eddie Murphy, actor (on his oscar preparations): "I haven't done anything yet. I've got to see what movies get nominated. Right now I'm just waiting to see what's gonna happen next. I've never hosted...I haven't seen anything yet. What's the front runner there? Who knows?"

Reporter: "What are you most excited about?"

Eddie Murphy: "I've never had the experience. I'm looking forward to seeing what the whole experience is. I'm excited about that, yeah and hoping not to drop the ball. We'll see."

4. Wide Brett Ratner on red carpet

5. Wide Brett Ratner on red carpet

BILLY CRYSTAL HONORED IN A FUNNY, TOUCHING HOLLYWOOD-HANDPRINT CEREMONY

Comic-actor Billy Crystal had the attention of hundreds of onlookers Friday (12 APRIL) in Hollywood.

But for a moment, the Emmy- and Tony-winning actor, writer, producer and stand-up comic was neither funny nor acting.

As the 71-year-old Crystal was being honored with a handprint ceremony in the forecourt of the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, he reflected on growing up with his mother, father and two brothers on Long Island, and a home filled with music and comedy.

"You try to make your parents laugh, and that laugh becomes this delicious drink that I was always thirsty for," Crystal recalled. "All these years later, I think of all the times that we performed and dreamed about something like this happening -- never would have imagined that it could happen for me."

Crystal wouldn't attain huge stardom until he was nearly 30, in the groundbreaking role of the gay son Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom "Soap." By the late '80s, Crystal emerged a big-screen superstar, with a string of hits including "The Princess Bride" and "Throw Momma from the Train" (1987), "When Harry Met Sally ..." (1989) and "City Slickers" (1991).

And into the new millennium, the hits keep coming, with Pixar's "Monsters, Inc." (2001) and its sequel "Monsters U" (2013)

In 1990, Crystal marked his first of nine times as host and co-writer of the Academy Awards, earning him two Emmys. Only Bob Hope has hosted more ceremonies (19).

"I am wearing the shoes that I wore the first time I hosted the Oscars," Crystal joked at the handprint ceremony, continuing, "and they hurt, because I'm now retaining water. I save everything."

Crystal also won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event for the autobiographical one-man show, "700 Sundays."

Crystal next will be heard in a "Monsters at Work" TV series for the new Disney+ streaming-video channel, and in the upcoming live-action feature "Standing Up, Falling Down," set to have its world premiere 25 April at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

We could talk upcoming projects later. The ceremony was over, but Crystal wanted to stay in the moment.

"You know, when I was a kid, they still had newsreels in the movie theatres: 'The News of the Week in Review!' And you'd see someone like Gregory Peck have his footprints and handprints here, or Jimmy Stewart. The history of these amazing stars being honored at what was then the Grauman's Chinese. To be part of that growing fraternity, sorority -- courtyard? -- is really moving to me, considering from where I started and where I'm still heading."

Los Angeles, 12 April 2019

1. Pan to handprint-ceremony setup in forecourt of TCL Chinese Theatre

2. Comic-actor Billy Crystal and director Rob Reiner pose for photographers

3. Tilt up of comic-actor Billy Crystal placing hands in cement

4. UPSOUND (English) Billy Crystal, comic-actor:

"You try to make your parents laugh, and that laugh becomes this delicious drink that I was always thirsty for. And, all these years later, I think of all the times that we performed and dreamed about something like this happening -- never would have imagined that it could happen for me."

5. Comic-actor Billy Crystal stands and holds up cement-covered hands for photographers

6. UPSOUND (English) Billy Crystal, comic-actor:

"One of my favorite characters, and, from what I've been told, is one of yours, too, is Mike Wazowski from 'Monsters, Inc.' and 'Monsters U.' So, the good people at Pixar sent me one of Mike's feet. So, I thought it only fitting that I'd put one of my feet and one of Mike's feet -- at the same time (in cement)"

7. Comic-actor Billy Crystal poses for photographers holding a replica of his "Monsters, Inc." character Mike Wazowski's foot

8. UPSOUND (English) Billy Crystal, comic-actor:

"I am wearing the shoes that I wore the first time I hosted the Oscars. And they hurt, because I'm now retaining water. I save everything. (Crowd laughs.) See? It still works."

9. Tilt up from comic-actor Billy Crystal's shoes in cement to Crystal displaying a wide range of emotions

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Billy Crystal, comic-actor, on being honored with a handprint ceremony at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood:

"You know, when I was a kid, they still had newsreels in the movie theatres: 'The News of the Week in Review!' And you'd see someone like Gregory Peck have his footprints and handprints here, or Jimmy Stewart. The history of these amazing stars being honored at what was then the Grauman's Chinese. To be part of that growing fraternity, sorority -- courtyard? -- is really moving to me, considering from where I started and where I'm still heading."

11. Comic-actor Billy Crystal and family pose for photographers

12. Pan of cement block with comic-actor Billy Crystal handprints and footprints. and Mike Wazowski 's footprint