Jimmy Kimmel didn’t host the Oscars on Sunday — that job went for the second year in a row to the fantastic Conan O’Brien — but in presenting the documentary categories, the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” host still had a few sharp things to say.
In coming out to present the documentary short and documentary feature Oscars, Kimmel joked that O’Brien had gone out and accidentally “exposed his face to the sun and was incinerated. So I will be finishing out the rest of the program.”
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But turning serious, he noted that with documentaries, “We hear a lot about courage at shows like this but telling a story that could get you killed for telling it is real courage. 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.”
That of course, is in reference to the recent decision by CBS to not allow “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” features Texas State Representative James Talarico as a guest, due to threats from the FCC. (CBS had also earlier iced a “60 Minutes” segment that had been promoted.)
Of course, Kimmel also knows a thing or two about free speech: The host was abruptly yanked off the air last fall after coming under fire from FCC chairman Brendan Carr, an act by Disney that became a rallying call for free speech proponents.
“Fortunately for all of us there’s an international community of filmmakers dedicated to telling the truth, oftentimes at great risk to make films that teach us, that call out injustice, that inspire us to take action, and there are also documentaries where you walk around the White House trying on shoes,” he added — taking a subtle dig at Amazon MGM’s “Melania.”
Which he also did again later, in giving out outstanding documentary film. That’s when Kimmel joked, “Oh, man, is he going to be mad 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 documentary short, and “Mr Nobody Against Putin” won for David Borenstein, Helle Faber, Alžběta Karásková, Radovan Síbrt and Lucie Kon.
