The host kicked off Sunday's show in style, marking his fourth time as emcee for the star-studded gala.
Jimmy Kimmel took the stage on Sunday at the 96th annual Oscars, and kicked off the big show with a fun, exciting monologue that showed just why he's been a perennial favorite to host the star-studded gala.
Kimmel began by poking fun at the show's earlier start time and always-lengthy run time, quipping, "Thank you for having me back and congratulations to each and every one of you for making it to the Academy Awards. And for making it on time. The show, as you know, is starting an hour earlier this year, but don't worry, it will still end very, very late. In fact, we're already five minutes over and I am not joking."
He also called out the high-profile snubs Barbie faced going into this year's show, stating, "Now Barbie is a feminist icon, thanks to Greta Gerwig, who many believed deserved to be nominated for best director tonight."
As she got a round of applause, Kimmel joked, "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."
"Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are here tonight. Look, kids, it's Barbie and Ken sitting near each other," Kimmel continued. "Ryan, Margot, I want you to know that even if neither one of you wins an Oscar tonight, you both already won something much more important -- the genetic lottery."
Kimmel also didn't shy away from mixing some political commentary into his monologue a few times.
"In Poor Things, Emma [Stone] played an adult woman with the brain of a child -- like the lady who gave the rebuttal to the State of the Union on Thursday night," Kimmel joked, referring to Sen. Katie Britt's widely derided GOP response.
Toward the end of his monologue, Kimmel also addressed the challenges Hollywood faced this year, with both the WGA and SAG strikes that effectively shut down the industry for several months.
"We can be proud of the fact that this long and difficult work stoppage taught us that this very strange town of ours, as pretentious and superficial and is can be, at its heart is a union town," Kimmel said. "It's not just a bunch of heavily Botoxed, Hailey Bieber smoothie-drinking, diabetes prescription-abusing, gluten-sensitive nepo babies with perpetually shivering chihuahuas."
"This is a coalition of strong, hard-working mentally tough American laborers. Women and men who would 100 percent die if we even had to touch the handle of the shovel," Kimmel said. "But the reason we were able to make a deal is because of the people who rallied beside us. Before we celebrate ourselves, let's have a very well-deserved round of applause for the people who work behind the scenes, the teamsters, the truck drivers, the lighting crew, gaffers, grips, that's right -- all the people who refused to cross the picket lines."
As Kimmel said this, he welcomed out a large group of union laborers onto the stage, and led the audience in a standing ovation.
"In your upcoming negotiation, we will stand with you, too," Kimmel promised. "And also, I'm going to make sure the show goes really long tonight, so you get a ton of overtime."
Kimmel spoke with The Hollywood Reporter last week, as he prepared for the high-profile gig, and he likened the emceeing job to taking a flight on a plane.
"You don’t think too much about it if it went well," he explains to THR. "If it was terrible, you tell everyone you know about it — the turbulence, the delay, how long you had to sit in the airport waiting. We just want a flight that’s on time and cocktails are served and nobody throws up."
Kimmel previously hosted the ceremony in 2017, 2018 and 2023. Molly McNearney, Kimmel's wife, who serves as the Jimmy Kimmel Live co-head writer, will executive produce the telecast.
The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host released a statement when news first broke that he'd be helming the broadcast, joking, "I always dreamed of hosting the Oscars exactly four times."
The 2024 Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, airs live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 10, at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET on ABC. Follow along at ETonline.com for full Oscars coverage, including red carpet arrivals, the complete winners list and more.
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