Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel mocked former President Donald Trump after his rant about Kimmel's stint as Oscar host included criticism of how he supposedly flubbed announcing Best Picture—except that Al Pacino was the presenter.
Trump had earlier criticized Kimmel, branding him as "stupid," for his overall performance as the host of the Academy Awards in March. Specifically, Trump took issue with Kimmel reading aloud Trump's mid-show social media post critiquing his hosting abilities. Trump alleged that Kimmel had read the post just before announcing the prestigious award for "Picture of the Year."
Trump further asserted that Kimmel's delivery was a "CLASSIC CHOKE," suggesting it was one of the most significant failures in show business history. Trump claimed that Kimmel failed to utter the customary line, "AND THE WINNER IS," instead stumbling through the announcement while opening the envelope.
He added:
"Supposedly his wife, and even management, begged him not to do it, "DON'T READ HIS TRUTH JIMMY, PLEASE DON'T DO THIS," they said. He was made to look like a FOOL, which he is, and at the same time go down in Television History as the WORST HOST OF THE ONCE VAUNTED ACADEMY AWARDS!"
You can see Trump's post below.
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
However, Trump's accusation is factually inaccurate.
Kimmel was not the one who presented an unusual and abrupt performance when announcing the Best Picture award, which was won by Oppenheimer. It was actually Al Pacino, whom Kimmel had introduced, who delivered the announcement. Additionally, the current standard phrase used at the Oscars for announcing winners is "and the Oscar goes to," not "and the winner is," as was the norm before 1989.
Kimmel responded to Trump's ramblings in a post on X, formerly Twitter, by invoking Trump's infamous "stable genius" self-compliment:
"In fairness to our former President, many stable geniuses confuse me with Al Pacino...."
You can see Kimmel's post below.
Many joined Kimmel in mocking the former president.
Recently Kimmel hit back at Trump's ongoing grudge over a joke Kimmel made at the Oscars with five very appropriate words that should be etched into Trump's tombstone.
Kimmel shared clips from a Fox News interview where Trump, amidst his legal battles, criticized Kimmel's hosting skills and referenced a Truth Social post read during the Oscars that prompted Kimmel to laugh and tell his audience that it was past Trump's "jail time."
Kimmel noted that "Not only were they laughing at you on Oscar Sunday, there are now dozens of ‘isn’t it your past your jail time’ shirts for sale."
Kimmel went on to say that Trump's tombstone should include the words "Should’ve kept his mouth shut," noting the hypocrisy from Trump, who makes regular headlines for word salad in addition to attacking his political opponents.
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@GovPressOffice/X
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social