Jimmy Kimmel threw a jab at Donald Trump while onstage at the Oscars less than an hour after the ex-president penned a scathing Truth Social post about the talkshow host.
On Sunday, just ahead of the last award of the night – best picture – getting doled out to Oppenheimer, Kimmel addressed the crowd at the 96th Academy Awards to share a review he had received about his performance as host of the ceremony.
“Has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel at The Oscars. His opening was that of a less than average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be,” Kimmel read aloud from his phone.
“Get rid of Kimmel and perhaps replace him with another washed up, but cheap, ABC ‘talent,’ George Slopanopoulos. He would make everybody on stage look bigger, stronger, and more glamorous… blah, blah, blah. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Kimmel then quipped: “See if you can guess which former president just posted that on Truth Social.”
Per Trump’s Truth Social page, nearly all of what Kimmel read aloud had been posted verbatim to Trump’s page at 9.39pm ET.
Kimmel then thanked Trump for watching before asking: “Isn’t it past your jail time?”
The crowd loudly hollered in response to the comment, which was a clear reference to the four criminal cases Trump has been charged in.
He currently faces four felony counts for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election in Washington DC, 13 felony counts for his election interference in Georgia, 34 felony counts in connection with hush-money payments to the adult film star Stormy Daniels in New York, and 40 felony counts for hoarding classified documents in the wake of his presidency and interfering with the government’s efforts to retrieve them in Florida.
Read more about the 2024 Oscars:
• Here’s our news wrap and full list of winners – now read Peter Bradshaw’s verdict
• Al Pacino, British mothers and a codpiece envelope: the real winners and losers of the night
• Relive how the ceremony unfolded with our liveblog and get up to speed with the top viral moments and the best quotes of the night
• Have a gander at how the stars looked on the red carpet and at the show
