Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel claims Ryan Gosling 'LIED' about not being asked to perform at 2024 ceremony - insisting Barbie star had received 'REPEATED' invitations but 'needed to think about it for a while'

Jimmy Kimmel has revealed that Ryan Gosling was 'lying' in February when he said he hadn't been asked to perform at the 2024 Oscars ceremony - claiming that the Barbie star had actually been 'asked repeatedly' at that point.

Jimmy, 56, revealed to Lara Spencer during an interview on Good Morning America that father-of-two Ryan 'had to think about it for a while' when the Academy initially approached him, but teased that his performance at the Dolby Theatre this Sunday will be a 'big production'.

Asked what he thinks Ryan's live rendition of the Barbie sing I'm Just Ken will be like at the 96th Academy Awards, Jimmy revealed: 'I hope it will be great, I think it will be great. It's a big production and Ryan takes this stuff very, very seriously.'

Referring to comments Ryan made to Variety magazine last month, Jimmy continued: 'It's funny 'cause I think Ryan was lying for a couple months leading up when he was saying, "Oh I haven't been asked to sing." 

'That's untrue, he had been asked repeatedly to sing at the Oscars.

Jimmy Kimmel has accused Ryan Gosling (left) of 'lying' about being asked to perform at the 96th Academy Awards

TV host Jimmy appeared on Good Morning America on Thursday ahead of his fifth time hosting the Oscars

Ryan, who has received an Oscars nomination for his role in Barbie, will perform a track from the movie called I'm Just Ken

'I think he had to think about it for a while and he came in and looked around at the space, he looked at the theater and he was like, "Okay, yeah I think I will do this", and now he's in!'

In an interview with Variety magazine, which was published on February 7, the Drive actor said: 'I still have not been asked. It might be too much of a risk to have me do it. I don’t know how that would work. But I’m open to it.'

Music producer Mark Ronson - who wrote the popular song alongside Andrew Wyatt - also spoke about the possibility of Ryan performing at the Oscars and told reporters at the 2024 Grammys that it would be his 'dream'.

Less than three weeks later, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that Ryan would be taking to the stage at this year's ceremony and belt out the Barbie hit - which is nominated for the Original Song Oscar.

This year will be Jimmy's fourth time hosting the Oscars and he revealed that he thinks this year's nominated movies, such as Oppenheimer, Poor Things, and Killers of the Flower Moon, are 'all good'. 

'That's a big part of why I decided to host the show this year because I do know there are movies that people have actually seen, which makes it a a lot easier to make jokes about them,' he admitted.

When Lara asked Jimmy if former Oscars host Billy Crystal gives him any 'special advice' ahead of the big night, he revealed: 'He does. In fact, he texted me this morning, he's checking in on me, seeing how it's going. I sent him my monologue, I wanted him to look at it and see what he thinks.'

The father-of-two also revealed that he'll be imitating 'all' of the characters from this year's nominated movies.

Father-of-two Ryan stars alongside Margot Robbie in Barbie, which was directed by Greta Gerwig and released in July 2023

According to Jimmy, Ryan 'had to think about it for a while' before he said yes to the Oscars performance

The 56-year-old spoke to GMA's Lara Spencer about what viewers can expect from this year's ceremony on Sunday, March 10

'I will be dressed as all of them, starting with Emma Stone's character in Poor Things and going all the way to Oppenheimer. I'm going to try to lose at least 80 pounds over the course of the show,' Jimmy joked before touching on his future as host of the biggest night in Hollywood.

'I'm not going to say I won't host the Oscars again. I'm definitely not going to say I will host the Oscars again. I don't know if I'll be asked, this could be a disaster and they could be like, "okay that's enough".'

Last month Jimmy starred in a Barbie-themed Oscars teaser, which saw him dressed in a suave tuxedo as he found himself lost in Barbieland where he was asked if he was 'middle aged Ken'.

He is then shown by Weird Barbie - played by SNL veteran Kate McKinnon - how to get to Oscarland via a fake but colorful car.