For a fading host of a fading Hollywood awards ceremony, first lady Melania Trump was too easy a target to ignore.
Late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel used the Oscars stage Sunday at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre to take a cheap shot at President Donald Trump’s wife while demonstrating how little truth actually matters to the modern left.
And while he got a forced laugh from his audience, the social media blowback was far louder.
Jimmy Kimmel presenting at the Oscars: “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.” pic.twitter.com/6k92W4bN5W
— LateNighter (@latenightercom) March 16, 2026
“There are some countries whose leaders don’t support free speech. I’m not at liberty to say which,” Kimmel said on the nationally televised program, while introducing the award for documentary short film, according to The Hill.
“Let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS.”
It was an apparent reference to the coming cancellation of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” — a nightly festival of Trump hatred that’s due to leave the air in May.
“Fortunately for all of us, there is 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.”
The reference, of course, was to the documentary “Melania,” which Hollywood hated, and millions of Americans loved.
Kimmel then made the point again while introducing the documentary feature film category, according to The Hill.
Jimmy Kimmel takes swipe at Donald Trump at the #Oscars: “Oh man, is he going to be mad that his wife wasn’t nominated for this” pic.twitter.com/h3WUfWAFy7
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) March 16, 2026
“Oh, man, is he going to be mad his wife wasn’t nominated for this,” Kimmel said.
The problem with Kimmel’s jokes — aside from being predictable and not even close to funny — is that they’re based on lies.
CBS didn’t cancel Colbert for political reasons. It cancelled his show because it’s a money loser.
And Trump being upset that “Melania” wasn’t nominated for an Oscar? The documentary came out in January. It wasn’t even eligible for an awards ceremony that honored work released last year.
(The libs at Newsweek spent basically a whole article explaining “Why Melania Trump’s Documentary Wasn’t Nominated for an Oscar,” when it all could have been boiled down to one paragraph: “In Melania’s case, while the film did receive a theatrical release in late January 2026, that timing placed it outside the eligibility window for the 98th Oscars, which honors films released during the 2025 calendar year. So, it’s possible that Melania’s film could be eligible for an Oscar in 2026.”)
Kimmel and his writers had to know both of those things. An audience full of show business professionals — however shallow and stupid they might be personally — had to know it, too. But they all joined in the cheap shots at a president the Beautiful People love to hate.
And many, many social media users called them out. Here’s a sampling:
It looked much deeper, on paper, in the writters room
— pzapalla (@peteszapalla) March 16, 2026
He’s so oppressed by how not funny he is.
— natasha (@mcshev) March 16, 2026
Insinuating US doesn’t support free speech while bad mouthing and saying exactly what he wants without punishment isn’t that free speech, moron
— RHOKY (@RHOKY52) March 16, 2026
Kimmel’s fixated on Trump. How unusual.
— JulesLM (@Jlmartin1234) March 16, 2026
And celebrities wonder why award show ratings continue to decline.
— tonebro916 (@tonebro916) March 16, 2026
Sunday night’s show marked one of the last times the Oscars are going to be on national television.
As conservative commentator Jeffrey Blehar noted at National Review, the once-must-watch awards ceremony is going to be shown only on the web starting in 2029, an indication of how few Americans actually care what Hollywood is celebrating about itself.
As Sunday night’s Kimmel “jokes” showed, it’s clearly not about celebrating the truth.
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