Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel has joked he will run away if anyone tries to slap him on stage.
The comedian is presenting the 95th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday night (12.03.23) a year after 2022 host Chris Rock was belted by Will Smith after making a joke about the actor’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith and Kimmel is adamant he won’t let himself get slapped in the same way – especially if he’s approached by someone bigger than him.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he joked: “If somebody comes up on the stage and slaps me? Well, I size them up, and, if I’m bigger than they are, I beat the s*** out of them on television. And if it’s the Rock, I run.”
Jimmy went on to talk about his own previous Oscars controversy at the 2017 ceremony when ‘La La Land’ was accidentally announced as the Best Picture winner by presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty only for the award to then be given to the rightful winner ‘Moonlight’ instead.
The funnyman joked the moment is no longer the most controversial in Oscars history thanks to Will Smith.
He said: “Yeah, we got knocked down the list. It’s disappointing in a lot of ways. If you’re gonna be part of a f***-up, it might as well be the biggest f***-up ever. Being part of the second-biggest f***up doesn’t carry as much cachet.”
After the monumental mix-up was revealed, Jimmy tried to lighten the awkward moment onstage by yelling to Beatty: “Warren! What did you do?”
He then went on to add: “Well I don’t know what happened. I blame myself for this. Let’s remember it’s just an awards show, I mean … I knew I would screw this show up, I really did.”
He finished off by saying: “Tomorrow I’m back to work on my regular show. I promise I’ll never come back.”
Kimmel returned to host the show again in 2018.
