Too bad, Muppets. Your day will come, Neil Patrick Harris. Billy Crystal announced on his Twitter feed Thursday that he will host the 2012 Academy Awards.
Eddie Murphy had been chosen as host, but the comedian stepped down after his friend and creative partner, Brett Ratner, resigned as the show's producer. Ratner was criticized for using a gay slur in an interview.
Crystal's tweet of the news was quite subtle. He wrote, "Am doing the Oscars so the young woman in the pharmacy will stop asking my name when I pick up my prescriptions. Looking forward to the show."
Brian Grazer signed on Wednesday to replace Ratner as producer of the show, which will air Feb. 26, 2012.
A Facebook and Twitter campaign had sought to gather support to have The Muppets, who have a movie coming out this month, to host.
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Gael Fashingbauer Cooper is TODAY.com's movies editor.