Prior to Off-Script with Liam Gibler, there was no Oscar for best podcast created by Liam Gibler. But that all changed when academy representative Ma’il Relbig, pronounced mah-il rell-beej, gave his first ever perfect score. The think cheese but with a b critic’s review skyrocketed Liam into the limelight.
“It was as if everything changed overnight,” Liam said to me during our exclusive. “I went from zero to hero like that. At the time I had maybe seventeen dollars in my pocket, and I’m probably not supposed to disclose this, but Universal ended up buying stake in it for seven million! After legal fees and taxes it wasn’t quite as much, but hey, I’m just glad to have an extra two dollars in my pocket.”
The immediate success of Off-Script was largely attributed to its improvisational format. Phrased by Ma’il as “A subtle mix of intelligent questions and creative comedy. A show where sometimes it seems like he doesn’t know what the f*ck he’s doing, but a show that’s thoroughly charming nonetheless.”
And that perspective seemed to spread as more and more people became aware of it. A thriving international fanbase rallied behind the young comedian, calling on the Oscars to include him in the upcoming award night. Saying quote “We’d actually watch it this year” and “We’d stop saying you’re irrelevant.”
That was a message the Oscars couldn’t ignore. Citing the rallying cries from Morocco to Iceland to include him, the board of directors quickly invented the new category. In the announcement for the award of best podcast created by Liam Gibler, press secretary Amil Bigler gave the following statement:
“The Oscars is all about giving the people what they want, while doing what we want, which is not what they want. In this case, Mr. Gibler is exactly the kind of diverse performer we like to highlight. White looking skin, with a mixed ethnic background that is NOT immediately obvious. That kind of ambiguity is the gold standard. You can’t teach that.”
Finally the night of the ceremony came around and all eyes were on him. “I was so nervous.” Liam said afterwards. “Everyone kept asking ‘who are you wearing? Who are you wearing?’ I was so on edge, I’d half convinced myself I was walking around like leatherface. Am I wearing someone? You’d think that’s something I’d remember putting on.
When asked about the later controversy, Liam commented that he “Pretty much just took his award and left,” and that Will Smith muttering “I wish a b*tch would ” over and over hadn’t felt like a welcoming environment.
“Honestly, I’m just happy that it’s over with. Even though Off-Script with Liam Gibler was the only entry in its category, I kept thinking there would be some fluke and they’d give it to Meryl Streep instead.” Liam said. “I’m happy that I won, but I’m okay without that stress for a while. I’m gonna get back to what I do best: making more episodes for my Oscar winning podcast available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, and most other platforms as well. For me, it’s enough to know that the world witnessed my special night. That when this slap thing blows over in the next day or two, they’ll talk about it too.”
