Brett Ratner - Sherak Overwhelmed By Oscars Support After Brett Ratner/Eddie Murphy Resignations

Hollywood came out in force to save the Oscars when producer Brett Ratner and host Eddie Murphy resigned last week (beg07Nov11), according to Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences President Tom Sherak.

Speaking at the Governors Awards in Los Angeles on Saturday night (12Nov11) after what was one of the most challenging weeks during his tenure, Sherak admitted he was overwhelmed by the support he received from studio bosses, top agents and movie stars after Ratner and Murphy quit the Academy Awards within a day of each other.

Sherak said, "We had such an outpouring of membership, saying, 'How can I help? What do you need me to do? Do you want me to get you a host? Do you want me to host...?' It was an outpouring of things that made you feel so good about the organisation."

Within hours of Murphy's resignation on Wednesday (09Nov11), Sherak had secured the services of producer Brian Grazer and he, in turn, brought Billy Crystal on as host of the 2012 Oscars.

On his choice of host, Grazer tells Eonline.com, "I just said, 'Look, I'd be thrilled if you would do this. You'll be great at it.' He (Crystal) said, 'Let me think about it for a day'. So he did, and he called and said, 'I'm doing it, and I'm going to tweet it out to the world'. I said, 'Go ahead!'"

Crystal's announcement tweet read: "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."

The 84th Academy Awards will take place in February (12).