Jimmy Kimmel takes aim at CBS during Oscars over free speech, jokes Trump will be ‘mad’ Melania isn’t nominated

LOS ANGELES: Television host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel took a jab while presenting at the Academy Awards, where he spoke about free speech and made a few jokes during the documentary awards segment, according to Variety.

Even though the show was hosted by Conan O’Brien, Kimmel appeared on stage to present the awards for documentary categories. As he began speaking, he joked about O’Brien not being present on stage.

Kimmel said that O’Brien had stepped out and joked about what happened next. “Conan O’Brien had gone out and accidentally exposed his face to the sun and was incinerated. So I will be finishing out the rest of the programme”.

While presenting the documentary categories, Kimmel also spoke about the risks many filmmakers take while telling real stories. He said that making such films often requires courage, especially in places where free speech is not supported. While talking about this, Kimmel made a remark that also mentioned CBS.

“We hear a lot about courage at shows like this but telling a story that could get you killed for telling it is real courage. As you know there are some countries whose leaders don’t support free speech. I’m not at liberty to say which. Let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS”, he said as per Variety.

omg Jimmy Kimmel just called out CBS at the Oscars and got a HUGE applause from the audience

“As you know, there are some countries whose leaders don’t support free speech. I’m not at liberty to say which. Let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS.” pic.twitter.com/QcZhXuBYgV

— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) March 16, 2026

Kimmel also spoke about filmmakers who take risks to tell stories that speak about truth and injustice. During the same segment, he made another joke that referred to the documentary Melania, which is based on Melania Trump.

“Fortunately for all of us there’s an international community of filmmakers dedicated to telling the truth, oftentimes at great risk to make films that teach us, that call out injustice, that inspire us to take action, and there are also documentaries where you walk around the White House trying on shoes.”

Later in the show, while presenting the award for best documentary feature, Kimmel made another light-hearted remark that mentioned Donald Trump. “Oh, man, is he going to be mad his wife wasn’t nominated for this”.

Jimmy Kimmel takes swipe at Donald Trump at the #Oscars: “Oh man, is he going to be mad that his wife wasn’t nominated for this” pic.twitter.com/h3WUfWAFy7

— Deadline (@DEADLINE) March 16, 2026

At the ceremony, the documentary short award went to ‘All the Empty Rooms,’ directed by Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones. The award for documentary feature was won by Mr Nobody Against Putin, created by David Borenstein, Helle Faber, Alzbeta Karaskova, Radovan Sibrt, and Lucie Kon. (ANI)