When Jimmy Kimmel took the stage at the 2026 Academy Awards to present the award for Best Documentary Feature Film, there was always a high chance he was going to use his moment on the mic to throw shade at the Trumps.
Kimmel has been an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump and the current administration, trading regular barbs with the POTUS and even seeing his late-night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! suspended following criticism over comments he made in the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination.
Given that Melania Trump released her documentary, Melania, in January, it was likely to be the case that the FLOTUS found herself in the firing line with Kimmel in charge of handing out the award for documentaries.
And he did not disappoint those hoping he would lean into the anti-Trump rhetoric, taking to the stage at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre and joking: “There are also documentaries where you walk around the White House trying on shoes.”
Referring to President Trump, he added: “Oh man, is he gonna be mad his wife wasn’t nominated for this.”
The Melania documentary, funded and produced by Amazon, currently has a 1,5/10 rating on IMDb. It follows First Lady Melania’s preperations to return to the White House in 2025 after her husband’s victory in the 2024 US elections.
Melania, it’s reported, was paid the princely sum of $40 million by Amazon for exclusive behind-the-scenes access.
“I’m very proud of the film so people may like it, may don’t like it, and that’s their choice,” Melania told CNN after the project’s release. “We achieved what we want to achieve. For myself, it’s already successful. I’m very proud of what we did.”
Despite its handsome funding, Melania failed to receive an Oscars nomination. Kimmel’s joke generated its fair share of the laughs from the live audience at the Dolby Theatre, but it wasn’t so well received by certain members of the Trump administration.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung took aim at Kimmel on Tuesday, March 17, labeling the comedian a “classless hack”.
In a post on X, Cheung wrote: “Jimmy Kimmel (Mr. Blackface) is a classless hack who is self-projecting his depression and sadness onto others.
“He lives a pathetic existence where nobody – not even his family – enjoys his miserable company.”
Kimmel also appeared to aim a direct dig at Trump and CBS at this year’s Academy Awards, stating: “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 & CBS.”
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