Jimmy Kimmel says he was told not to read a message from Donald Trump live on television during the 2024 Oscars — but he did it anyway.
The bit was completely improvised after he was told backstage not to read the diss on the air, Kimmel, 56, told Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos backstage after the ceremony.
“They’re like, ‘You’ve got a little bit of time’ and I was like, ‘I’m reading the Trump tweet,’ and they’re like, ‘No, no, don’t read that,'” Kimmel jokingly told the morning show hosts in a backstage interview after the show, which aired on Live with Kelly and Mark on Monday, March 11. “[I was like] ‘Yes I am.’”
While hosting the 96th annual Academy Awards on Sunday night, Kimmel read a message Trump had posted on social media platform Truth Social, wherein the former president slammed the returning host’s performance as “disjointed, boring, and very unfair.”
The former president began his critique by asking, “Has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel at The Oscars,” before he launched into a series of complaints centered around the show’s “political correctness.”
Trump also described Kimmel’s opening monologue as “that of a less than average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be,” as well as the entirety of the Oscars as a “really bad politically correct show.” Trump wrote, “Why don’t they just give the Oscars to those that deserve them. Maybe that way their audience and TV ratings will come back from the depths. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Kimmel chose to use his extra time to fire back at Trump, despite being advised not to. “Blah, blah, blah … OK, now, see if you can guess which former president just posted that on Truth Social,” Kimmel said on the Dolby Theater stage. “Anyone? No? Well, thank you, President Trump. Thank you for watching, I’m surprised you’re still — isn’t it past your jail time?”
Prior to the show, Kimmel said that he hadn’t been planning many political jokes but noted that he certainly enjoyed ribbing the Republican presidential candidate.
“One of the most fun parts of my job is knowing that [Trump] hates being made fun of and making fun of him,” Kimmel told CNN before the show. “And then, every once in a while, he reminds us that he hates it and he gets mad. So, I love that. I take some pleasure in it.”
Sunday night was Kimmel’s fourth time hosting the Academy Awards, having previously emceed the ceremony in 2017, 2018 and 2023.
Speaking with Ripa and Consuelos, Kimmel also addressed Al Pacino’s Best Picture mishap, wherein the 83-year-old acting legend cut the Oscars short by announcing Oppenheimer as the winner without acknowledging the other nine nominees.
“I guess he’s never watched an awards show before,” Kimmel quipped. “It seemed like everyone in America knows the rhythm of how it’s supposed to go, down to ‘and the Oscar goes to…’ But not Al. God bless him.”
