Jimmy Kimmel won’t be talking anymore at this year’s Oscars.
The late-night host and comedian, 55, will host the ceremony for the third time this Sunday and he’s ready to fight back if anyone slaps him — unless, of course, that person is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
At last year’s show, Will Smith caused an uproar when he hit host Chris Rock on stage over a joke he made about Rock on live television. Jada Pinkett Smith’s Alopecia.
In an interview with The Hollywood ReporterKimmel explained how he would handle someone attacking the stage at this year’s event.
“What if someone comes on stage and slaps me?” Kimmel began.
“Well, I size them up, and, if I’m bigger than them, I beat them on television. And if it’s rock, I run,” he joked.
The father-of-four then made his decision if the slap heard around the world was “almost boring to joke about at this point”.
“Well, whatever I say about it, it must be pretty good, right?” Kimmel said. “Because a lot has been said and there’s been a lot of attention. I obviously don’t want to make a whole monologue about it, but it would be ridiculous not to mention it.
The slap is not the comedian’s first Oscar scandal. Kimmel was famously at the end of the 2017 ceremony when #envelopegate caused a major stir.
“La La Land” was mistakenly named the Best Picture winner after Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were given the wrong category envelope. The drama “Moonlight” was the original winner, whose win was announced midway through the former’s acceptance speech.
Kimmel reflected on the mix-up: “It’s disappointing in a lot of ways. If you’re going to be a part of an af–kup, it might as well be the biggest f–kup ever. Being part of the second-largest F-coupe doesn’t carry that much cachet.
He also addressed by slapping people earlier this month. “It’s still shocking that this happened,” he said.
“To see something like this happen”The Maury Povich Show‘ is shocking. And then having it happen at the Oscars magnifies it about a million times,” he noted.
He added, “I think it’s something that everyone regrets and we’ll get behind. One day it will be viewed the same way a person running naked on stage is viewed: an awkward moment that we all talked about and hopefully learned from.
Kimmel admitted he hasn’t spoken to the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” star yet, but he has spoken to The Rock about the incident.
The talk show emcee praised Rock’s reaction, saying: “I mean, getting slapped in the face and being that cool is something Chris should be proud of. I hope Chris’ grandchildren Will still be proud of it when he’s dead and gone.
