Oscars 2017: Jimmy Kimmel mocks Donald Trump, Matt Damon; gets cheers for Meryl Streep joke
After the Oscars opening this year featuring Justin Timberlake, the show settled back into a little bit more of a conventional rhythm. Jimmy Kimmel came out in order to give his opening monologue, and he faced a challenge of trying to keep the energy high … and also make people laugh.
So what did Kimmel do? The first thing that he did was make a few jokes about America and division. Then, he also called Mel Gibson Braveheart and made it clear that he wasn’t going to be the person to unite everyone.
Enter Matt Damon – Well, you knew that this was coming! Jimmy’s long-standing joke-feud with Damon transferred into the show, as he openly mocked the actor for passing on Manchester by the Sea in favor of The Great Wall instead. According to Jimmy, the movie lost $80 million. We don’t know if that checks out or not, but making fun of Matt Damon’s a trademark of Kimmel’s at this point.
As for Donald Trump, Kimmel said “remember last year when everyone thought the Oscars were racist?” — and that may be one of the highlights of the entire night. Another one was when he had a little bit of fun with Meryl Streep, but then later made everyone stand up in order to give her a round of applause. She took all of it well, especially given that Kimmel asked after the fact if the dress was an “Ivanka.”
Overall take
We really like the fact that Kimmel didn’t stray too far from his lane. This felt very much similar to the opening of one of his shows. It was funny, it was political, and it included several big moments.
Will this be memorable four or five years down the line? Maybe the Meryl standing ovation will, but it’s hard to know about everything else just because we’re talking about an era where there are SO many big highlights and shocking moments. It’s hard to keep track of them all.
What did you think about the Oscars 2017 Jimmy Kimmel monologue? Share in the comments, and head over here to get some further news when it comes to the show. (Photo: Oscars.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arxjWGlRj7k