American television host and comedian Conan O’Brien, who hosted the Oscars for the first time on March 3 this year, will be returning as the award ceremony’s host in 2026, the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences announced on Monday.

“Forget the pot of gold—this St. Patrick’s Day, we’re giving you something even better. @ConanOBrien is officially returning to host the 98th Oscars,” the official handle of the Academy Awards wrote on X alongside a picture of O'Brien holding an Oscar trophy.

“The only reason I'm hosting the Oscars next year is that I want to hear Adrien Brody finish his speech,” O’Brien jokingly said in a statement about his return, referring to Adam Brody’s five-minute acceptance speech, the longest in the Oscars’ history. Brody won the Best Actor trophy for the film The Brutalist.

The CEO and president of the Academy, Bill Kramer and Janet Yang said in a joint statement, “We are thrilled to bring back Conan, Raj, Katy, Jeff and Mike for the 98th Oscars! This year, they produced a hugely entertaining and visually stunning show that celebrated our nominees and the global film community in the most beautiful and impactful way. Conan was the perfect host — skillfully guiding us through the evening with humour, warmth and reverence. It is an honour to be working with them again.”

At the award ceremony this year, Conan O’Brien’s attempt to speak in Hindi while hosting went viral on social media. While carrying out his hosting duties at the award ceremony, O’Brien said, “For those of you watching from India, I want to say Bharat ke logon ko namaskar wahan subah ho chuki hai toh mujhe ummeed hai ki naashte ke saath Oscars kar rahe hain (Greetings to the people of India, it's morning there, so I hope you're having breakfast with the Oscars).

The 97th Academy Awards took place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 2 and secured the highest viewership on ABC and digital platforms in five years with 19.69 million viewers.

The 98th Academy Awards will stream live on March 15 next year.