BREAKING: White House MELTS DOWN after Jimmy Kimmel’s brutal Oscars roast of Melania.
As far as Oscar ceremonies go, last night’s edition of the Academy Awards was relatively apolitical compared to past broadcasts.
There was nothing on the order of Michael Moore denouncing the Iraq war at the 2003 ceremony while accepting his award for Bowling for Columbine, or Vanessa Redgrave attacking “Zionist hoodlums” in her 1978 Best Supporting Actress acceptance speech, or even Marlon Brando’s declining his Best Actor Award for the Godfather to protest Hollywood’s treatment of native Americans — sending Sacheen Littlefeather to deliver his message to the audience.
This year, political commentary at the Oscars, while not as prevalent as in years past, was still as sharp as ever.
Oddly, the sharpest political jabs came more from the Awards’ presenters rather than the winners. Javier Bardem, a four-time Oscar winner, was short and sweet in his remarks while presenting the Best International Feature award. “No to war, and free Palestine,” while wearing a prominent placard reading “No a la Guerra” on his lapel.
But it was the former Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel — presenting the Best Documentary Feature and Short awards — who got in the best political zingers of the ceremony. Commenting on the Best Documentary Feature nominees, the late-night host took aim at the widely mocked documentary about First Lady Melania Trump, which critics panned and audiences mostly ignored.
“Oh man, is he going to be mad his wife wasn’t nominated for this,” Kimmel joked while introducing the Best Documentary Feature category.
But he didn’t stop there. Kimmel also delivered a sharp jab about freedom of speech while discussing the risks some filmmakers take to tell important stories.
“We hear a lot about courage at shows like this,” he said. “But telling a story that could get you killed for telling it is real courage.”
Then came the punchline.
“As you know, 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.”
And finally, he twisted the knife with another not-so-subtle reference to Melania’s much-maligned documentary.
“Fortunately for all of us there’s an international community of filmmakers dedicated to telling the truth… and there are also documentaries where you walk around the White House trying on shoes.”
The crowd laughed. The internet exploded. The White House? Not amused.
Within hours, Trump communications director Steven Cheung unleashed a furious rant on social media, calling Kimmel a “classless hack who is self-projecting his depression and sadness onto others.”
Cheung didn’t stop there.
“He lives a pathetic existence where nobody—not even his family—enjoys his miserable company,” Cheung wrote. “The only people giving him any attention are Hollywood elites. BUH-BYE!”
In other words, a few jokes at the Oscars were apparently enough to trigger a full-blown meltdown from the president’s communications team.
Which only proves Kimmel may have hit exactly where it hurts.
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