*Here’s a message for activist Najee Ali and singer/actor Tyrese Gibson who both  have been lobbying for Chris Rock to walk away from his Oscars hosting gig: it ain’t gonna happen.
At the 47th NAACP Image Awards Nominee Luncheon on Saturday, ET’s Nischelle Turner got the scoop straight from Academy Awards producer Reginald Hudlin. And if anyone should know it’s Hudlin, who confirmed that Rock will absolutely be hosting the internationally viewed awards show.
RELATED NEWS: WATCH: Najee Ali Says Chris Rock Hosting #OscarsSoWhite is ‘Insulting’ [EUR Exclusive]
You might also want to know that even though Rock had already finished writing his monologue a week ago, once the #OscarsSoWhite outrage came to a head with Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith’s pledge to boycott, Rock scrapped his jokes and started working on a new script, says Hudlin.
“Chris is hard at work. He and his writing staff locked themselves in a room,” according to Hudlin. “As things got a little provocative and exciting, he said, ‘I’m throwing out the show I wrote and writing a new show.'”
“Chris is that thorough,” Hudlin added. “He’s that brilliant, and I have 1000 percent confidence that he will deliver something that people will be talking about for weeks.”
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Hudlin also revealed that Rock isn’t even gonna try to pretend the boycott issue doesn’t exist. In fact, it’ll probably be a running theme throughout the show.
“You should expect [#OscarsSoWhite jokes],” Hudlin told ET. “And, yes, the Academy is ready for him to do that. They’re excited about him doing that. They know that’s what we need. They know that’s what the public wants, and we deliver what the people want.”
So, if you don’t plan on boycotting, er, umm, tuning-out the show, you can see Rock hosting the event for his second time. The first was in 2005. The Academy Awards air February 28 at 7pm Eastern/4pm Pacific on ABC.
Meanwhile, Chris Rock was a man of few words Saturday night (01-3-16) as he left The Comedy Store.
As he and pal Dave Chappelle left, a TMZ photog asked about the push for a host boycott.
Chris has said he’s writing a new script, featuring #OscarsSoWhite jokes.
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