Oscars 2018: #MeToo, Donald Trump are just some of the topics that will be discussed on Hollywood's biggest night

The Academy Awards, the glitziest night in show business, takes place on Sunday, but the biggest drama may be not on the Dolby Theatre stage but behind-the-scenes moves to tackle the sexual misconduct scandal that has rocked the industry.

After moving swiftly to expel Oscar-winning film producer Harvey Weinstein last October after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has still to take action against other people in its ranks who have been accused of impropriety.

They include actor Kevin Spacey, director Roman Polanski and comedian Bill Cosby.

Weinstein, who has denied having non-consensual sex with anyone, was only the second person in the academy's 90-year history to be thrown out.

His expulsion made the publicity-averse Academy, whose 8,000 members vote on the Oscars, the moral guardian in the #MeToo scandal that has led to dozens of Hollywood figures stepping down or being dropped from creative projects.

"The academy has always wanted to be the symbol of Hollywood, the glamour and excitement and creativity. But now this awful stuff is being told about Hollywood and it's like, you're going to be the symbol of the downside too," said Tim Gray, awards editor of Hollywood trade publication Variety.

"This is new territory for them. I think they haven't quite figured it out," said Gray.

CHALLENGING, FAIR, METHODICAL

The job of policing accusations against filmmakers, agents and actors among the academy's members has proved slow and difficult.

The academy issued its first-ever code of conduct in December and set up a task force to handle allegations on a wide range of potential violations. Chief Executive Dawn Hudson told members in a January email that it was "a challenging process that will not be solved overnight."

Hudson's email said the Academy's goal was "not to be an investigative body but rather ensure that when a grievance is made, it will go through a fair and methodical process."

The academy is developing an online form for submitting claims of misconduct that go beyond sexual behavior to include abuses in matters of gender, sexual orientation, race, age, and religion.

According to the guidelines, claimants must supply evidence of alleged behaviour and an accused person has 10 days to respond before the academy's membership committee reviews the matter. Only the board of governors can make a decision whether to suspend or expel a member.

"Traditionally it's up to the employer to monitor bad behavior - in this case the studios, TV networks and the agencies," said Gray. "It's a slippery slope to get into that. Where do you draw the line?"The membership list of the invitation-only academy has never been published but the academy said that Spacey, Polanski and Cosby are still members.

Double Oscar-winner Spacey has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 30 men. He apologized to the first accuser and has retreated from public life.

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Polanski won an Oscar in 2003 despite being wanted in the United States to serve time for his 1977 admission of the rape of a minor. Cosby faces retrial in Pennsylvania in April on a charge of sexual assault and has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 60 other women. He denies the allegations.

Director and actor Woody Allen, who won Oscars for "Annie Hall" and "Midnight in Paris," has repeatedly denied a resurfaced 1992 accusation that he molested his stepdaughter when she was a child.. Allen has never been a member of the academy, it said.

Dave Karger, special correspondent for entertainment website IMDB.com, says he doesn't expect any quick action.

"My sense with the academy is that they act judiciously, carefully and deliberately. I can see them making moves to expel certain members, but I see that happening as a multistep process," Karger said.

JIMMY KIMMEL’s RETURN TO HOSTING

Jimmy Kimmel is in therapy. Last year's Oscar best picture blunder is giving the Academy Awards host nightmares - or so goes one of the comedian's video promotions for Sunday's ceremony.

But the 2017 backstage envelope mix-up that saw the top prize in the movie industry briefly being awarded to "La La Land" rather than actual winner "Moonlight" may pale in relation to the task facing Kimmel when he returns as Oscar master of ceremonies for a second year.

Kimmel must navigate the #MeToo sexual misconduct scandal that has rocked Hollywood in front of a live audience of A-list celebrities, many of whom say they are victims, as well as millions watching at home.

He is also expected to throw in jokes about U.S. President Donald Trump, last year's best picture flub, the biggest pop culture moments of the past year, and the movies and performances up for the highest honors in show business.

"This year, the casting couch is the target of Hollywood. That's going to be the theme of the night, from the jokes told by Jimmy Kimmel to the winners who are announced," said Tom O'Neil, founder of awards website GoldDerby.com

"He can't avoid the subject of #MeToo and he must treat it with delicacy and sensitivity while at the same time being fearless and lampooning it. So he has a very difficult role," O'Neil said.

Kimmel, 50, has said little about his plans and is ambiguous about whether he will address the elephant in the room.

"This show is not about reliving people's sexual assaults," Kimmel told ABC News earlier this week. "It's an awards show for people who have been dreaming about maybe winning an Oscar for their whole lives."

In January Kimmel told reporters that he was "sure that it (the misconduct scandal) will be part of the subject matter of the show."

Kimmel, known for his genial but deadpan delivery, got high marks as last year's Academy Awards host when then-newly elected Trump and his policies became a running gag.

Since then, spurred by a heart condition affecting his newborn son, he has adopted a sharper edge on his television talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" where he has attacked Republican efforts to scuttle former President Barack Obama's healthcare reforms.

He has said he does not intend to use the Oscars "as a platform for healthcare."

Tim Gray, awards editor at Hollywood trade publication Variety, said it would "look very weird" if Kimmel does not address #MeToo, which has been the number one topic in Hollywood for five months, on the night the movie industry celebrates itself.

"It is a balancing act. You, hopefully, have some observations that people haven't thought about, which is not easy, but you don't want to hit people with a sledgehammer," Gray said.

Nevertheless, Gray said, Kimmel is the right man for the job.

"I think Jimmy Kimmel is really smart and really funny. I think he'll be fine," he said.