After the announcement that this year’s hosts would be four white guys, NewReleaseToday’s crack team of serious entertainment journalists decided to get the rest of the story. While we hate reporting on sensationalism from random, unidentified sources, we feel this was too shocking to ignore.
After the recent Presidential election, companies began dumping their DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs, and K-Love was no exception. The unexpected (or expected) fallout quickly revealed a glaring effect–so glaring in fact that sunglasses were required to look at the press photos from the blinding light reflecting off the foreheads of the four men chosen to host: Matthew West, Jeremy Camp, Mac Powell ,and Bart Millard (MercyMe).
We asked.
“We feel we gave everyone a fair audition,” said one K-Love executive. “We simply seated each artist in a chair, and then opened the curtains and allowed exposure to direct sunlight. If they instantly ran out of the room covered in third-degree burns, they moved on.”
Kirk Franklin, who famously boycotted the Dove Awards in 2019 after his acceptance speech was edited, lamented the fact that he would have to bring back the award show boycott yet again. “I thought we were past this,” Franklin sighed while polishing his Grammy collection. “But clearly, I need to find some time in my schedule to not show up again.”
Meanwhile, industry insiders claimed repeatedly that the hiring process was completely fair and unbiased, citing the groundbreaking “Can They Clap on the One and Three?” test. “We gathered all potential hosts in a room, played a standard worship song, and asked them to clap along. If they instinctively clapped on the one and three instead of the two and four, they advanced to the next round.”
Mac Powell, known for his Southern drawl and ability to sing every worship song like it’s an invitation to a backyard barbecue, was reportedly thrilled to be selected. “I wasn’t sure I’d make the cut,” Powell admitted. “But then I strummed three G chords in a row and softly said ‘Y’all ready to worship?’–they hired me on the spot.”
Jeremy Camp was equally humbled, though some speculated he made the list solely because someone confused him with Chris Tomlin. “I’m just blessed to be here,” Camp said, while rehearsing lines from I Still Believe Still, an upcoming sequel to his hit movie, I Still Believe.
Bart Millard, lead singer of MercyMe, was rumored to have clinched his spot after executives realized they hadn’t gone a full year without playing the 25-year-old “I Can Only Imagine” at least 40,000 times. “The fans just love me,” Millard explained. “Or at least, they love the song. I’m still not sure they know what I look like.”
As for Matthew West? “Look, we needed a guy who could turn every minor inconvenience into a three-minute radio hit,” an executive explained. “He once wrote a song about losing his socks in the dryer and made it into a tearjerker about God’s faithfulness. That’s the kind of talent we need on stage.”
Not to be out-diversified by the K-Love Fan Awards, the We Love Christian Music Awards–which will hold their ceremony on Tuesday, April 8 in Franklin, TN–announced their hosts for 2026.
“K-Love is leading the way in our industry here,” shares We Love Awards founder, Kevin McNeese. “That’s why we have joined them in this mission and invited Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, Zach Williams, and Jordan Feliz to host next year! We’ve extended an invitation to TobyMac as long as he pumps out another eight contemporary hits and stays away from that hippity-hop. We think he’s a shoo-in, though for our fifth white male host.”
We’re all inspired.