Billy Crystal is a hero! The hilarious actor took to his Twitter to announce that he will be taking Eddie Murphy‘s place as the host of the 84th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 26, 2012 — hurray!

“Am doing the Oscars so the young woman in the pharmacy will stop asking my name when I pick up my prescriptions,” Billy tweeted. “Looking forward to the show.”

Billy’s announcement comes on the heels of Eddie quitting as host after his buddy Brett Ratner resigned as producer for the show after the backlash for his anti-gay remarks and inappropriate tirade on Howard Stern .

— Chloe Melas

Eddie Murphy will NOT be hosting the 2012 Academy Awards, our sister site Deadline.com reports!

Eddie made his decision to quit after Brett Ratner — who was going to produce the ceremony — resigned.

“First and foremost I want to say that I completely understand and support each party’s decision with regard to a change of producers for this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. I was truly looking forward to being a part of the show that our production team and writers were just starting to develop, but I’m sure that the new production team and host will do an equally great job,” Eddie said in a statement.

Who do you think should host the Oscars now, HollywoodLifers?

During a conference about his film Tower Heist, Brett Ratner told the press “rehearsing is for f*gs,” igniting an outcry from the gay community and subsequently, leading to his resignation from the 84th Annual Academy Awards. Do YOU think he made the right decision?

UPDATE 11/9: Eddie Murphy Quits as Oscars Host

In addition to working with GLAAD, Brett also issued an apology letter, which is printed below.

TEXT FROM OPEN LETTER TO THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FROM BRETT RATNER:
Dear Colleagues,

Over the last few days, I’ve gotten a well-deserved earful from many of the people I admire most in this industry expressing their outrage and disappointment over the hurtful and stupid things I said in a number of recent media appearances. To them, and to everyone I’ve hurt and offended, I’d like to apologize publicly and unreservedly.
As difficult as the last few days have been for me, they cannot compare to the experience of any young man or woman who has been the target of offensive slurs or derogatory comments. And they pale in comparison to what any gay, lesbian, or transgender individual must deal with as they confront the many inequalities that continue to plague our world.

So many artists and craftspeople in our business are members of the LGBT community, and it pains me deeply that I may have hurt them. I should have known this all along, but at least I know it now: words do matter. Having love in your heart doesn’t count for much if what comes out of your mouth is ugly and bigoted. With this in mind, and to all those who understandably feel that apologies are not enough, please know that I will be taking real action over the coming weeks and months in an effort to do everything I can both professionally and personally to help stamp out the kind of thoughtless bigotry I’ve so foolishly perpetuated.

As a first step, I called Tom Sherak this morning and resigned as a producer of the 84th Academy Awards telecast. Being asked to help put on the Oscar show was the proudest moment of my career. But as painful as this may be for me, it would be worse if my association with the show were to be a distraction from the Academy and the high ideals it represents.

I am grateful to GLAAD for engaging me in a dialogue about what we can do together to increase awareness of the important and troubling issues this episode has raised and I look forward to working with them. I am incredibly lucky to have a career in this business that I love with all of my heart and to be able to work alongside so many of my heroes. I deeply regret my actions and I am determined to learn from this experience.

Sincerely,
Brett Ratner