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in memoriam
Robert Blake's Son Calls Out Jimmy Kimmel For Joking About His Late Father At The Oscars
Noah Blake did not find the humor in Jimmy Kimmel's Oscars joke about his late father, actor Robert Blake.
Robert, who died from heart disease just three days prior, was active in the industry for nearly six decades. Blake starred in the critically acclaimed film In Cold Blood—the screen adaptation of Truman Capote's book of the same name.
He later won an Emmy for his role in the late 1970s television series Baretta and continued to appear in films and on television. Blake was later acquitted of the murder of his second wife, Bonny Lee Bakley which effectively ended his career.
Before the Oscars' "In Memoriam" segment, Kimmel quipped:
"Everybody please get out your phones, even at home, it's time to vote."
"If you think Robert Blake should be part of the 'In Memoriam' montage, text 'Gimme-A-Blake' to the number on your screen or to any number."
You can watch the bit—which was met with a mix of booing and laughter from the audience—below.
The actor—along with a number of notable stars—was omitted from the presentation.
His son expressed to TMZ the bit was "not funny" and "landed like a thud."
"Two, three days after someone passes away... might not be the greatest time to make a so-so joke at their expense."
You can see Noah's full statement below.
Noah continued:
"I think it was just handled poorly all the way around. I think the whole 'In Memoriam' was just botched and bungled really, really badly."
"Not just from the standpoint of my father... but there were a lot of other people who contributed a lot in their lives who were left out of that list."
"It's just entirely wrong."
Gilbert Gottfried, Anne Heche, Tom Sizemore and Paul Sorvino were also left out of the segment.
Many on social media agreed with Noah's stance on both Kimmel's joke and the exclusion of recognizing Robert's lifetime of contributions to the industry.
And others also seconded his comment regarding those who were "left out of that list."
While Noah noted "people are entitle to their opinions," he also expressed "your opinion about someone, personally, really, should be independent from the work that they do."
"I think Jimmy's a really funny guy... but he didn't even seem to be comfortable telling that joke."
Ultimately, Noah felt compassion should have trumped potential humor:
"But I also think that we all have our own sense of human decency and compassion, and I think sometimes that needs to be exercised."