Jimmy Kimmel has ripped into Donald Trump while presenting at the Oscars.
The TV presenter, who has previously hosted the ceremony, took to the stage during last night’s (Sunday March 15) awards to present the documentary categories.
After cracking a joke about the evening’s host Conan O’Brien, he praised the “courage” of the Documentary Short Film and Documentary Feature Film nominees.
“We hear a lot about courage at shows like this but telling a story that could get you killed for telling it is real courage,” he began. “As you know there are some countries whose leaders don’t support free speech. I’m not at liberty to say which. Let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS.”
The latter refers to accusations network CBS blocked an interview between late night host Stephen Colbert and Texas Democratic candidate James Talarico earlier this year over fears of retaliation from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The segment was later shared on YouTube.
After getting a cheer from the audience, Kimmel then took a dig at the recent Amazon Prime Video documentary focusing on Donald Trump’s wife, Melania.
“Fortunately for all of us there’s an international community of filmmakers dedicated to telling the truth, oftentimes at great risk to make films that teach us, that call out injustice, that inspire us to take action, and there are also documentaries where you walk around the White House trying on shoes,” he joked.
The award was given to All the Empty Rooms, while Kimmel took another dig at Trump as he announced the feature category, quipping: “Oh, man, is he going to be mad his wife wasn’t nominated for this,” before confirming Mr Nobody Against Putin as the winner.
This isn’t the first time that Kimmel has gone to task with Trump, with the host’s show Jimmy Kimmel Live! temporarily suspended by ABC last year after he accused the MAGA movement of exploiting the murder of Charlie Kirk, as the US president celebrated the news. He was reinstated less than a week later after a backlash from the entertainment industry.
Later on in January this year, Kimmel roasted Trump after winning an award at the Critics’ Choice Awards.
Kimmel wasn’t the only presenter to take a dig at Trump last night, with presenter Javier Bardem calling out the president and Benjamin Netanyahu for creating “another illegal war” while also declaring “free Palestine”.
Meanwhile, last night’s Oscars were dominated by One Battle After Another, which took home six awards including Best Picture and Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson, as well as Best Supporting Actor for Sean Penn.
Sinners followed behind with four wins, including Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan and a historic Best Cinematography award for Autumn Durald Arkapaw, who became the first woman and woman of colour to win the category. Elsewhere, Jessie Buckley and Amy Madigan took home the Actress and Supporting Actress awards.
Host Conan O’Brien also took at dig at Timothée Chalamet’s controversial recent comments about ballet and opera, while there was a moving In Memoriam tribute to Rob Reiner from Billy Crystal, as well as a Bridesmaids reunion. Some viewers also criticised the show for cutting off speeches by the songwriters behind Best Original Song winner ‘Golden’ from KPop Demon Hunters.
Take a look at the full list of winners here.