Before this year's diversity discussion, past emcees such as Jon Stewart and Neil Patrick Harris tackled topics like the 2008 presidential race and very first #OscarsSoWhite protest.

• Bob Hope

  1953

  

  Bob Hope hosted 19 times between 1940 and 1978, co-hosting the 1953 Oscars with actor Conrad Nagel. It was the first televised show, so Hope cracked, “Television, where the movies go to die!”

• Johnny Carson

  1982

  In the fourth of his five gigs, Johnny Carson quipped, “Critics say that they are not hiring minorities in films. Not true. Any actor in this town who’s working is in a minority.”

• Chevy Chase

  1988

  With the Writers Guild on strike, Chevy Chase was on his own. “Good evening, Hollywood phonies,” he kicked it off. “My entire monologue was generously donated by five teamsters.”
• Billy Crystal

  1990

  In his first appearance, Billy Crystal joked, “Box office worldwide was over $5 billion — or roughly half of what Jack Nicholson made on Batman. Jack is so rich Morgan Freeman drove him here tonight.”

• Jon Stewart

  2008

  Amid the presidential primary race, Jon Stewart said, “Hillary Clinton versus Barack Obama. Normally when you see a black man or a woman president, an asteroid is about to hit the Statue of Liberty.”

• Seth MacFarlane

  2013

  Riffing on Django Unchained, Seth MacFarlane cheekily said, “Multiple uses of the N-word in the film. I’m told apparently the screenplay is loosely based on Mel Gibson’s voicemails.”
• Ellen DeGeneres

  2014

  Surveying the nominated movies, Ellen DeGeneres, in her second turn as host, predicted, “Possibility No. 1: 12 Years a Slave wins best picture,” before then adding, “Possibility No. 2: You’re all racists.”

• Neil Patrick Harris

  2015

  Emcee Neil Patrick Harris acknowledged the first #OscarsSoWhite protest at the start: “Welcome to the 87th Oscars. Tonight we honor Hollywood’s best and whitest … sorry, brightest."