Jimmy Kimmel at the Oscars condemns Trump and CBS’ attack on freedom of speech
Jimmy Kimmel didn’t host the Oscars on Sunday — that job went to the fantastic Conan O’Brien for the second year in a row — but when presenting the documentary categories, the host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” still had some pointed things to say.
When Kimmel came out to present the short documentary and the documentary Oscars, he joked that O’Brien went outside and accidentally “exposed his face to the sun and got burned. So I’ll finish the rest of the program.”
But he turned serious, noting on documentaries, “We hear a lot about courage on shows like this, but telling a story that could get you killed if you tell it is real courage. As you know, there are countries whose leaders don’t support freedom of speech. I’m not at liberty to say which ones. Let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS.”
That, of course, refers to CBS’s recent decision not to allow “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” to feature Texas State Representative James Talarico as a guest, due to threats from the FCC. (CBS had also previously frozen a “60 Minutes” segment that had been promoted.)
Of course, Kimmel also knows a thing or two about free speech: The host was abruptly taken off the air last fall after coming under fire from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, an act by Disney that became a rallying cry for free speech advocates.
“Fortunately for all of us, there is an international community of filmmakers dedicated to telling the truth, often at great risk to make films that educate us, that expose injustice, that inspire us to take action, and there are also documentaries where you walk through the White House trying on shoes,” he added, subtly taking a dig at Amazon MGM’s Melania.
Which he later did again, by releasing excellent documentary films. Then Kimmel joked, “Oh man, is he going to be mad that his wife wasn’t nominated for this.”
As for who won the categories, “All the Empty Rooms” (directed by Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones) won for short documentary, and “Mr Nobody Against Putin” won for David Borenstein, Helle Faber, Alžběta Karásková, Radovan Síbrt and Lucie Kon.
