Aziz Ansari To Host 2010 MTV Movie Awards

AZIZ ANSARI TO HOST 2010 MTV MOVIE AWARDS LIVE ON SUNDAY, JUNE 6 FROM THE GIBSON AMPHITHEATRE IN UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA

SANTA MONICA, CA/NEW YORK, NY – (April 19, 2010) – One of the fastest rising stars in comedy, Aziz Ansari is set to host the nineteenth annual MTV MOVIE AWARDS, premiering LIVE on MTV, Sunday June 6 from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California. This is Ansari’s first time hosting the awards show. As previously announced, Emmy Award® winning producer Mark Burnett (“Survivor,” “The Apprentice”) returns for the fourth year as executive producer. With the legendary golden popcorn up for grabs in such unconventional categories as “Best Kiss,” “Best WTF Moment”and “Best Scared-As S**t Performance,” the 2010 MTV MOVIE AWARDS promises more over-the-top moments and stand-out musical performances. “Our audience fell in love with Aziz on ‘Human Giant.’ They followed him to the movies, TV and stand-up, and connect with him daily online,” said Stephen Friedman, General Manager, MTV. “Aziz is the perfect host for the 2010 MTV Movie Awards as he will bring his innovative comedy and distinctive style to the movie industry’s most rebellious night on television.” “I’m so happy Ronnie from ‘Jersey Shore’ was unavailable and this exciting opportunity was able to come my way,” said Aziz Ansari. Ansari joins the ranks of past hosts such as Andy Samberg, Ben Stiller, Jimmy Fallon, Mike Myers, Sarah Silverman and Justin Timberlake. The celeb-filled event is MTV’s bold nod to the typical awards shows celebrating the year’s best in movies. Hailed for shocking, one-of-a-kind moments (Eminem storming out in a heated rage after Bruno put him into a compromising position), clever film parodies, sexy lip-locking moments (from the likes of Will Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen), and outrageous acceptance speeches (Mike Myers’ ode to Austin Powers with a mojo-induced dance number), the MTV Movie Awards has produced some of the most unforgettable and outrageous moments in award show history. Aziz Ansari is quickly becoming one of the biggest names in comedy. He currently co-stars opposite of Amy Poehler in the critically acclaimed NBC series, “Parks and Recreation,” which was recently renewed for a third season. Ansari’s portrayal of government employee ‘Tom Haverford,’ has earned him much critical praise including Entertainment Weekly naming him one of 2009’s “Breakout TV Stars,” TV Guide naming him a “Scene Stealer” and Yahoo! TV placing him in the number one spot on their list of “TV MVPS.” This past January, Ansari released an hour-long standup special on Comedy Central titled, “Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening.” The special and subsequent DVD/CD were both extremely successful and the album continues to be a mainstay on iTunes’ comedy best-seller list. Ansari will next embark on a major multi-city standup tour this summer called the “Dangerously Delicious Tour.” Additionally, Ansari was just announced to star in Ruben Fleischer’s next feature film, “30 Minutes Or Less” and is currently developing three films for Judd Apatow and Universal with Director Jason Woliner. The collaboration with Apatow began on Universal’s “Funny People,” where Ansari created the popular character of ‘Raaaaaaaandy,’ who went on to become a viral hit on FunnyOrDie.com. This summer he will appear in “Get Him to the Greek” alongside Russell Brand, Jonah Hill and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs. Ansari has also had roles in the hit comedies “I Love You, Man” and “Observe and Report.” He is also recognized for his work on MTV’s hit sketch comedy series, “Human Giant.” Nominees for the 2010 MTV MOVIE AWARDS will be announced shortly. The official 2010 MTV MOVIE AWARDS site is MovieAwards.MTV.com <https://owa.viacom.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=//movieawards.mtv.com/> . For more on MTV’s ongoing movies coverage, check out //www.mtv.com/movies. The 2010 “MTV Movie Awards” and “MTV Video Music Awards” will be available to a potential viewing audience of more than 1.2 billion people via MTV’s global network of 65 channels reaching 641 million households around the world as well as through syndication. In addition, its convergent programming and content will reach the entire interactive community, via MTV’s more than 200 digital media properties around the world. Mark Burnett serves as Executive Producer for the “2010 MTV Movie Awards.” Audrey Morrissey is Executive Producer. Lee Rolontz is Executive Producer for MTV, Garrett English is Executive In Charge for MTV and Jane Mun serves as Supervising Producer. For MTV, Wendy Plaut is the Celebrity Talent Executive and Amy Doyle and Joanna Bomberg serve as the Executives In Charge of Music and Talent. About MTV Network: MTV is the dynamic, vibrant experiment at the intersection of music, creativity and youth culture. For over 28 years, MTV has evolved, challenged the norm, and detonated boundaries — giving each new generation a creative outlet and voice that entertains, informs and unites on every platform and screen. On-air, MTV is the number one rated full-day ad-supported cable network for P12-24. Online, MTV.com averaged 24.6 million monthly unique visitors during the first quarter of 2010 — up +9% from Q4/2009 and up +13% year-over-year. Average video streams for the first quarter of 2010 increased +19% from the Q4/2009 and is up +18% over the same time period last year. And MTV’s successful sibling networks MTV2 and mtvU each deliver unprecedented customized content, super-serving young males, music fans, and college students like no one else. MTV is part of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Wanna know more? Come on in… www.mtvpress.com