Late-night host returned to the stage at the Academy Awards and returned to hitting the same targets as before.
Kimmel took shots at President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump plus added in CBS for good measure Sunday in Los Angeles.
Kimmel, who has hosted the awards show four times, announced the awards in a pair of documentary film categories.
“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,” Kimmel said.
“As you know, there are some countries whose leaders don’t support free speech. I’m not at liberty to say which,” Kimmel continued.
“Let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS,” Kimmel said as the audience followed with applause.
Skydance — which is owned by David Ellison, the son of close President Trump ally and billionaire Oracle CEO Larry Ellison — purchased the CBS parent company Paramount in 2025.
Since then, some Democrats and media critics have accused Paramount of retooling CBS in order to advance the Ellisons’ business interests.
“Fortunately for all of us, there is 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,” Kimmel said.
“And there are also documentaries where you walk around the White House trying on shoes,” Kimmel said.
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That joke was apparently aimed at Melania Trump. The first lady’s footwear was the focus of several shots in “Melania,” her documentary that was released earlier this year.
After presenting the Oscar for Documentary Short Film to “All the Empty Rooms,” a film about the bedrooms of school shooting victims, Kimmel presented the Documentary Feature Film category.
“Oh man,” Kimmel said, referring to Trump. “Is he gonna be mad his wife wasn’t nominated for this.”
Kimmel and Trump have exchanged barbs for years — Kimmel on his show and Trump on Truth Social.
Last year, Trump praised ABC for temporarily pulling Kimmel off the air his comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
During the 2024 Academy Awards, Kimmel, who was hosting, read Trump’s social media criticism of him live from the stage.
“Has there ever been a worse host than Jimmy Kimmel at the Oscars?” Kimmel said.
“Isn’t it past your jail time?” Kimmel said to Trump.
