Jimmy Kimmel injected liberal politicking into Sunday night’s Academy Awards presentation, taking a shot at first lady Melania Trump and comparing Steven Colbert to the victims of a totalitarian regime.
In presenting the awards for documentary short and documentary feature, the liberal host began his introductions by acknowledging the courage that many documentary filmmakers have — making films in war zones and under tyrannical regimes.
“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 said.
But he continued by implying that free speech doesn’t exist in the U.S. and comparing a communist tyranny to the cancellation of Mr. Colbert’s late-night talk show and/or centrist Bari Weiss’s ongoing tenure at one of the three major news networks.
“As you know, there are some countries whose leaders don’t support free speech. I’m not at liberty to say which,” he said dryly to laughs from the audience. “Let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS.”
Twice, Mr. Kimmel also derided, in very thinly veiled fashion, “Melania,” the current documentary about Mrs. Trump’s activities in the weeks before her husband’s second inauguration.
After saying that many documentaries are about showing atrocities and wars and addressing injustices, he said that “there are also documentaries where you walk around the White House trying on shoes.”
Before presenting the award for best feature, he said, without mentioning Mr. Trump, that “is he gonna be mad his wife was not nominated for this.”
However, “Melania” could not have been nominated for Sunday night’s awards as it was released in theaters at the end of January, after the eligibility window for 2025 films had ended. It will be eligible for next year’s Oscars.
