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Oscars: Jimmy Kimmel takes 'free speech' dig at Trump, CBS 
Kimmel's joke was about CBS and FCC

Oscars: Jimmy Kimmel takes 'free speech' dig at Trump, CBS 

Mar 16, 2026
07:40 am

What's the story

Jimmy Kimmel, who presented the documentary categories at the Oscars on Sunday, took a subtle dig at CBS. He said, "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." This referred to CBS's recent move to not allow The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to feature politician James Talarico as a guest due to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) threats.

Host's past

Kimmel's own experience with censorship

Kimmel himself has been a victim of censorship. He was pulled off the air last fall after coming under fire from FCC chairman Brendan Carr. This incident became a rallying cry for free speech proponents. "Fortunately for all of us there's an international community of filmmakers dedicated to telling the truth...and there are also documentaries where you walk around the White House trying on shoes," he said, with the last line referring to Amazon's Melania documentary.

Subtle jab

Kimmel also took a dig at 'Melania'

Kimmel also joked about US President Donald Trump being mad that his wife, Melania Trump, wasn't nominated for an Oscar while giving out best documentary film award. While All the Empty Rooms (directed by Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones) won for documentary short, Mr Nobody Against Putin won Best Documentary Feature Film.

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