Monday, April 19, 2010

Aziz Ansari to host MTV Movie Awards

One of the fastest rising stars in comedy, Aziz Ansari is set to host the nineteenth annual MTV MOVIE AWARDS, premiering LIVE on MTV, Sunday June 6 from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California. This is Ansari’s first time hosting the awards show. As previously announced, Emmy Award® winning producer Mark Burnett (“Survivor,” “The Apprentice”) returns for the fourth year as executive producer. With the legendary golden popcorn up for grabs in such unconventional categories as “Best Kiss,” “Best WTF Moment” and “Best Scared-As S**t Performance,” the 2010 MTV MOVIE AWARDS promises more over-the-top moments and stand-out musical performances.

“Our audience fell in love with Aziz on ‘Human Giant.’ They followed him to the movies, TV and stand-up, and connect with him daily online,” said Stephen Friedman, General Manager, MTV. “Aziz is the perfect host for the 2010 MTV Movie Awards as he will bring his innovative comedy and distinctive style to the movie industry's most rebellious night on television.”

“I’m so happy Ronnie from ‘Jersey Shore’ was unavailable and this exciting opportunity was able to come my way,” said Aziz Ansari.

Ansari joins the ranks of past hosts such as Andy Samberg, Ben Stiller, Jimmy Fallon, Mike Myers, Sarah Silverman and Justin Timberlake. The celeb-filled event is MTV’s bold nod to the typical awards shows celebrating the year’s best in movies. Hailed for shocking, one-of-a-kind moments (Eminem storming out in a heated rage after Bruno put him into a compromising position), clever film parodies, sexy lip-locking moments (from the likes of Will Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen), and outrageous acceptance speeches (Mike Myers’ ode to Austin Powers with a mojo-induced dance number), the MTV Movie Awards has produced some of the most unforgettable and outrageous moments in award show history.

Aziz Ansari is quickly becoming one of the biggest names in comedy. He currently co-stars opposite of Amy Poehler in the critically acclaimed NBC series, “Parks and Recreation,” which was recently renewed for a third season. Ansari’s portrayal of government employee ‘Tom Haverford,’ has earned him much critical praise including Entertainment Weekly naming him one of 2009’s “Breakout TV Stars,” TV Guide naming him a “Scene Stealer” and Yahoo! TV placing him in the number one spot on their list of “TV MVPS.” This past January, Ansari released an hour-long standup special on Comedy Central titled, “Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening.” The special and subsequent DVD/CD were both extremely successful and the album continues to be a mainstay on iTunes’ comedy best-seller list. Ansari will next embark on a major multi-city standup tour this summer called the “Dangerously Delicious Tour.”

Additionally, Ansari was just announced to star in Ruben Fleischer’s next feature film, “30 Minutes Or Less” and is currently developing three films for Judd Apatow and Universal with Director Jason Woliner. The collaboration with Apatow began on Universal’s “Funny People,” where Ansari created the popular character of ‘Raaaaaaaandy,’ who went on to become a viral hit on FunnyOrDie.com. This summer he will appear in “Get Him to the Greek” alongside Russell Brand, Jonah Hill and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs. Ansari has also had roles in the hit comedies “I Love You, Man” and “Observe and Report.” He is also recognized for his work on MTV’s hit sketch comedy series, “Human Giant.”

Nominees for the 2010 MTV MOVIE AWARDS will be announced shortly. The official 2010 MTV MOVIE AWARDS site is MovieAwards.MTV.com. For more on MTV’s ongoing movies coverage, check out http://www.mtv.com/movies.

The 2010 “MTV Movie Awards” and “MTV Video Music Awards” will be available to a potential viewing audience of more than 1.2 billion people via MTV's global network of 65 channels reaching 641 million households around the world as well as through syndication. In addition, its convergent programming and content will reach the entire interactive community, via MTV's more than 200 digital media properties around the world.

Mark Burnett serves as Executive Producer for the “2010 MTV Movie Awards.” Audrey Morrissey is Executive Producer. Lee Rolontz is Executive Producer for MTV, Garrett English is Executive In Charge for MTV and Jane Mun serves as Supervising Producer. For MTV, Wendy Plaut is the Celebrity Talent Executive and Amy Doyle and Joanna Bomberg serve as the Executives In Charge of Music and Talent.

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