Oscars co-host Amy Schumer revealed that her request to have Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky address the star-studded gathering was rejected.

       In a teaser clip for her forthcoming appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show on 24 March, the comedian commented on using the Oscars platform to highlight important global issues – including Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

       During the interview, Schumer told host Drew Barrymore that she wanted to have Zelensky speak at the ceremony on 27 March “because there are so many eyes on the Oscars” but her idea was turned down by the organisers.

       “I am not afraid to go there,” she added, “but it’s not me producing the Oscars.”

       Responding to Barrymore’s question about how she would “handle the Academy Awards at this time” of political turmoil, Schumer acknowledged the “pressure” to be both sensitive and funny.

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       “I think there is definitely pressure in one way to be like, ‘this is a vacation, let people forget we just want to have this night’ but it is like well we have so many eyes and ears on this show,” she explained.

       Noting that the Oscars provided a “great opportunity to at least comment on a couple of things”, she told Barrymore that she has “some jokes that kind of highlight the sort of current condition”.

       “I mean, there are so many awful things happening that it seems hard to focus on which one.”

       Along with Schumer, actor and stand-up comedian Wanda Sykes and Scary Movie star Regina Hall have been roped in to host the ceremony this year.

       The last person the Academy hired for the job was Kevin Hart, who was scheduled to host the 2019 Oscars but was forced to step down soon after his old, homophobic tweets resurfaced online.

       One of his now-deleted tweets, posted between 2009 and 2011, read: “Yo if my son comes home & try’s 2 play with my daughters doll house I’m going 2 break it over his head & say n my voice ‘stop that’s gay’.”

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       This was the first time since 1989 that the Oscars was without a host, relying instead on flashy montages and A-list presenters to carry it. The ceremony did not have an official host in 2020 and 2021 either.

       The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered.

       To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.