ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY. Oscars producers: Maybe we shouldn’t use a host at all.

Variety quotes a “top talent rep” that says that his clients are unhappy that [Kevin] Hart didn’t choose to “stay the course and serve as an example.” If that was the plan, maybe they should have made it more clear to Hart in his contract negotiations. “Say, Kevin,” they might have said, “we plan to hang you out to dry if activists go through years-old material to find something offensive, declaring you to be inappropriate unless you willingly go along with the public beating. How’s that sound?”

Clearly, Hart didn’t like the sound of it when the Academy did hang him out to dry, but at least he would have been prepared for it. Unfortunately, every comic worth hiring for the gig understands exactly how the Academy supports its partners in their big broadcast — or more accurately doesn’t. That may be why the Oscars will go without a host for the first time in 30 years, opting instead for a Rube Goldberg-ish rotating set of players.

That latter option may be difficult for the Academy to assemble: 18 Top Comedians Who Can Never Host The Oscars Now.