It’s official: Jimmy Kimmel has done it again.
Tonight, Kimmel hosted the 96th annual Academy Awards, which took place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. To kick off the highly anticipated Oscars ceremony, the talk show host, 56, took the stage and delivered a comical opening monologue for the books.
The monologue was filled with funny jokes, including references to Barbie getting snubbed by the Academy, Killers of the Flower Moon having a ridiculous runtime of three hours and 26 minutes, Bradley Cooper bringing his mom as his date and the actors/writers putting an end to the strikes that plagued Hollywood last year.
This marked the fourth time that Kimmel has hosted Hollywood's biggest night, after he led the ceremony in 2017, 2018 and 2023. His involvement was confirmed back in November 2023 when Bill Kramer (Academy CEO) and Janet Yang (Academy President) released a public statement that read: “We are thrilled about Jimmy returning to host and Molly returning as executive producer for the Oscars. They share our love of movies and our commitment to producing a dynamic and entertaining show for our global audience.”
It continued, “We are deeply grateful to Jimmy, Molly and their teams for their incredible creativity and partnership and for going on this ride with us again.”
The 2024 Academy Awards was exclusively broadcast on ABC. The network also airs Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which is ABC’s longest-running late-night talk show. Back in September 2022, the late-night program was renewed for three more seasons, extending his contract through season 23.
Kimmel’s opening monologue will be a tough act to follow.
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