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Oscars 2024: Watch Jimmy Kimmel’s opening monologue
Jimmy Kimmel's Oscars 2024 monologue had jokes aplenty about Robert Downey Jr.'s former drug issues.
2024 Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel is a seasoned pro at this point, having hosted the Academy Awards four times since 2017.
Having successfully navigated the Will Smith-Chris Rock slap situation in 2023, Kimmel further showcased his professionalism by urgently requesting that the show’s telecast (which began at 7:05 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.) get moving.
“We’re already five minutes late,” Kimmel said. “And I’m not even joking.”
Some of Kimmel’s opening monologue targets were expected, including “Barbie” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.” He also had a fun back-and-forth with “Oppenheimer” actor Robert Downey Jr., alluding to the now-sober actor’s prior substance abuse problems.
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After Kimmel wryly said Downey Jr. was at “one of the highest points of his career,” the camera cut to RDJ tapping his nose.
“Was that too on the nose or a drug motion you made?” Kimmel cracked.
Here are a few of the best one-liners from Kimmel’s opening monologue.
On the failure of the Boston-filmed superhero film “Madame Web”: “It was also a great year for movies, despite the fact that everything stopped. The people in this room somehow managed to come up with so many excellent films and memorable performances. This night is full of enormous talent, and untold potential, but so was ‘Madame Webb.’”
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On Greta Gerwig getting snubbed for a Best Director nomination: “Now Barbie is a feminist icon, thanks to Greta Gerwig, who many believed deserved to nominated for best director tonight. [Applause]. Hold on a second. I know you’re clapping, but you’re the ones who didn’t vote for her, by the way. Don’t act like you had nothing to do with this.”
On “Killers of the Flower Moon”: “When I went to see ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, I had to have my mail delivered to the theater. In the time to watch that film, you could drive to Oklahoma and solve the murders”
On the Will Smith Oscars slap: “We want you to have fun, feel safe and, most importantly, we want me feel safe. So we have strict policies in pace. If anyone in this theater commits an act of violence at any point during the show, you will be awarded the Oscar for best actor and permitted to give a 19-minute-long speech.”
Watch Jimmy Kimmel’s Oscars 2024 monologue:
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