Yes. Jimmy Kimmel said backstage voices told him not to read Donald Trump’s criticism of the Oscars—but he read part of it aloud anyway. The exchange happened near the end of the 96th Academy Awards broadcast on March 10, 2024.
What happened at the Oscars?
Trump posted criticism of Kimmel and the ceremony on Truth Social while the show was underway. Near the broadcast’s closing stretch, Kimmel said he had time and announced that he was going to read Trump’s post. He later recalled that people backstage responded, “No, no don’t read that,” as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
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Kimmel read a portion of the post on air. He thanked Trump for watching and added, “isn’t it past your jail time?” The Los Angeles Times reports that the moment came after Al Pacino moved quickly through the best-picture announcement, leaving Kimmel extra time; the paper describes the exchange as unplanned.
What did Trump’s post say, and how did Kimmel answer?
News reports described Trump’s post as criticizing Kimmel’s hosting and the ceremony. Its opening asked whether there had ever been a worse Oscars host and took aim at Kimmel’s opening, according to the Guardian.
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Kimmel’s on-air response turned the criticism into a joke about Trump watching the broadcast. In later comments, Kimmel offered his own explanation of Trump’s motive: “He wrote this because he was upset I didn’t mention him on the show.” That was Kimmel’s interpretation, not an independently established account of Trump’s reasoning.
Who told Kimmel not to read the post?
In the initial post-show account, Kimmel did not identify the person who advised him. The TheWrap later reported that Oscars producer Molly McNearney identified herself as the person who had urged him not to read it. That later attribution clarifies who gave the advice; it was not a name Kimmel supplied in the interview as first reported.
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When did Kimmel recount the exchange?
After the ceremony, Kimmel described the backstage reaction in an interview with Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos. The sequence matters: Trump’s post appeared during the March 10, 2024 broadcast, Kimmel read part of it near the end, and he discussed the warning afterward.
The available reports establish that Kimmel said people backstage advised him against reading the post. They do not establish that the Academy or ABC issued an official directive or policy telling him not to read it.
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