Jimmy Kimmel didn’t hold back on the Oscars stage, making sure to deliver some sharp political jabs, aiming at President Trump, Melania Trump, and even throwing a free speech-related dig at CBS while presenting the documentary film categories on Sunday in Los Angeles.
“As you know, there are some countries whose leaders don’t support free speech,” Kimmel shared on the ABC broadcast, adding, “I’m not at liberty to say which.” Per The Hill, he then quipped, to a round of applause, “Let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS.” That CBS jab is a direct reference to Skydance, owned by Trump ally David Ellison, purchasing CBS parent company Paramount last year.
Kimmel then pivoted to the dedication of international filmmakers in telling the truth, often at great personal risk, to create films that educate and inspire action. He couldn’t resist a playful jab: “And there are also documentaries where you walk around the White House trying on shoes.” This was a clear reference to Melania, her Amazon documentary, which apparently featured several shots focusing on her footwear.
The best part of this? He was just stating facts
Kimmel continued his playful teasing, remarking, “Oh man,” and then, “Is he gonna be mad his wife wasn’t nominated for this,” seemingly referring to Trump. His ‘liberal’ political commentary saw him temporarily taken off the air after some comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Beyond Kimmel’s jokes, the Oscars night saw a notable increase in political activism from artists. AP News noted the continuation of the “BE GOOD” and “ICE OUT” pins, which triggered a tirade from Megyn Kelly. More prominently, many used the red carpet to advocate for Palestinian liberation and a ceasefire in Gaza. Actor Javier Bardem, for example, wore a “No a la Guerra” patch while presenting, echoing his anti-war stance from two decades ago.
On Sunday, attendees representing The Voice of Hind Rajab, a docudrama about a Palestinian girl killed in Gaza, also wore new red “Artists4Ceasefire” pins. Saja Kilani, one of the film’s stars, expressed on the red carpet that “Our struggles are connected. So is our liberation.”
David Borenstein, a director of the winning documentary, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, spoke about how a country can be lost through “countless small little acts of complicity,” like when “a government murders people on the streets of our major cities” or “oligarchs take over the media.” He emphasized that “even a nobody is more powerful than you think.”
Paul Thomas Anderson, director of One Battle After Another, mentioned he wrote the film for his children as an apology for the “housekeeping mess we left in this world we’re handing off to them.” Outside of his political commentary, host Conan O’Brien summarized the evening the best: “We pay tribute tonight not just to film, but to the ideals of global artistry, collaboration, patience, resilience and that rarest of qualities today: optimism.”
