It’s official: Eddie Murphy will host the 84th Academy Awards on Feb. 26, 2012. On Tuesday, the 50-year-old funnyman issued a statement expressing his excitement about taking the tough hosting gig of Hollywood’s night of nights.

“I am enormously honoured to join the great list of past Academy Award hosts from [Bob] Hope to [Johnny] Carson too [Billy] Crystal, [Steve] Martin and [Whoopi] Goldberg, among others,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working with [Oscars telecast producers] Brett [Ratner] and Don [Mischer] on creating a show that is enjoyable for both the fans at home and for the audience at the Kodak Theatre as we all come together to celebrate and recognize the great film contributions and collaborations from the past year.”

The gig should be a huge boost to Murphy’s career, which has flatlined with a series of movie flops aside from his Shrek films and 2007 Academy Award-nominated turn in Dreamgirls. With two new films out around Oscar time, Tower Heist and A Thousand Words, the famously controversial stand-up comedian is looking at a career renaissance.

Ratner gave Eddie the ultimate praise with the Oscars announcement.

“Eddie is a comedic genius, one of the greatest and most influential live performers ever,” the Rush Hour and Tower Heist lensman said. “With his love of movies, history of crafting unforgettable characters and his iconic performances — especially on stage — I know he will bring excitement, spontaneity and tremendous heart to the show Don and I want to produce in February.”

Comedian and sometimes rapper Katt Williams is in trouble again. Williams — who was arrested for theft in suburban Atlanta in 2009 — is facing felony charges of intimidating a witness after he tried to hold a laborer and his wife hostage after the man was attacked by two of Katt’s friends at a Los Angeles property where Williams has been staying.

As TMZ.com breaks it down: “…A man doing tractor work on a Palmdale home where Katt was staying claims three women approached his vehicle and began attacking him with rocks and dirt clods around 4:30 Saturday afternoon. The man, who says he suffered facial injuries in the attack, called his wife to pick him up — but when she arrived, Katt pulled up in an SUV and blocked their exit. That’s when the man called 911. The L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept. quickly arrived to the scene — arrested the women for assault with a deadly weapon and busted Katt for felony intimidating a witness.”

Katt was eventually released on $50,000 bond.

Cash-strapped comedian Sinbad has landed his own reality show on WEtv (Women’s Enterainment) — the same network that recently greenlit a docu-soap starring singer Toni Braxton and her sisters. .

“It’s not your run-of-the-mill reality show. I’m looking at this medium to find ways to be creative. If done right, reality TV can be funny,” he tells Entertainment Weekly.

When TV and movie roles dried up, Sinbad re-married his college sweetheart, kicked his 30-person entourage off the payroll, and got back into his original passion of performing stand-up comedy. Now living back in the home where his career started, Sinbad’s working to rebuild his fanbase while his grown-up kids, Paige and Royce, are working on their own careers. The show, tentatively called Sinbad’s Family Affair, will follow the comedian and his family as they work and live in Los Angeles.

“Sinbad’s story is one of second chances. It’s remarkable and heartwarming, but not without its drama, conflict and chaos,” according to WEtv’s Senior Vice-President of Development. “This is a modern family that’s reunited and they’re dealing with the emotions and issues that come along with that. It’s what viewers will see more of on WE tv, and women will be able to connect with this story and this family, either from their own experiences or those of people in their life.”

WEtv has ordered six episodes of the series, which is set to debut later this year.

Nicki Minaj is a “Creep!” Now that’s an assessment that Kimberly Jones can get behind. Young Money’s resident Harajuku Barbie made her inaugural musical guest appearance on Saturday Night Live over the weekend, where she lent her talents and quirky facial expressions to a Digital Short, featuring fictional band The Lonely Island.

Had he lived, Richard Pryor would have celebrated his 70th birthday this month, so in his honor SIRIUS XM will launch Richard Pryor Radio, a four-day uncensored channel devoted to the comedian’s decades of groundbreaking — And dare we say profane? — body of work.

Richard Pryor Radio will launch Dec. 30 at 5 AM ET and will run through 11:59 PM ET on Jan. 2 on SIRIUS Channel 108 and XM Channel 139. The channel will feature hundreds of tracks from Pryor’s live concert performances, stand-up gigs, and comedy albums spanning 1968-1992.

Steve Harvey, comedian-turned-wise-cracking relationship guru, is offering some “straight talk” on the “myth” that men and women can happily engage in platonic relationships.

The nationally-syndicated radio host solidified his standing as the 21st century’s answer to Dr. Ruth after his first book, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, shot to the top of The New York Times Bestsellers List in 2009.

In an interview with CNN’s Fredericka Whitfield, Harvey — who is promoting his newest relationship manual, Straight Talk, No Chaser – breaks down why members of the opposite sex can never be “just friends.”

Watch, listen, and let us know if you agree!

Hide Yo’ Kids, Hide Yo’ Wife, and Hide Yo’ Husband: Antoine Dodson is the Most-Watched Man on YouTube!

Antoine Dodson’s dramatic reaction to a local crime has spawned the most-watched YouTube video of the year, excepting music videos.

The “Bed Intruder Song” is the top YouTube video of the year, the company said Monday. When Dodson, a 24-year-old Alabama student, gave an angry TV interview rant about the attempted rape of his younger sister, he became a folk hero and a viral sensation. When the same rant became an auto-tuned song, “The Bed Intruder Song,” Dodson became a full-fledged Internet sensation. YouTube added the view counts for two versions of the video, which put its total at over 61 million views.

Not only has Antoine sagged himself a new weave and a place in YouTube history, he’s earned enough to make his family out of public housing.

All Hell broke loose at a birthday party comedian Mike Epps was hosting for his wife last week.

Epps decked a particularly pesky photographer right in the kisser after he allegedly harassed The Eppses for several hours. It all went down at the Key Club in Detroit on Saturday, Nov 27. Epps tells TMZ the photographer was talking trash to him and his wife while filming them inside the restaurant.

Epps — whose film credits include turns in The Hangover and the Friday series — can be seen throwing a bow as security scatters in an attempt to break up the ensuing melee.

“It was a private celebration for my wife’s birthday. I asked the photographer numerous times not to film, but he refused to let up. I then attempted to retrieve the tape from the camera.”

Hold on to your wallet, Mike. Anyone else smell a lawsuit?