Jimmy Kimmel Takes a Jab at Trump and CBS During Oscars Cameo

Jimmy Kimmel took a not-so-subtle swipe at President Donald Trump while presenting a few trophies at the Academy Awards on Sunday night — and managed to get in a shot at CBS at the same time.

“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,” Kimmel said before handing out the Oscar for the Best Documentary Short Film.

He then quipped, “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.”

That zinger led to a round of applause from the Dolby Theatre crowd in Hollywood, with actor Jason Bateman seen standing and clapping in approval.

Kimmel also got in a joke about First Lady Melania Trump and her recent documentary film. He joked some documentaries call out “injustice” and “inspire us to take action,” while others show “where you walk around the White House trying on shoes.”

The ABC star’s joke about CBS comes after the network canceled his rival and friend Stephen Colbert’s show. Both late night comics have ripped Trump for years, and Trump has often returned their shots, like when he celebrated Kimmel getting suspended last year for his comments following the murder of Charlie Kirk.

Here is what Kimmel said that led to that brief suspension:

The MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.

Trump said it was “GREAT NEWS” that Kimmel was suspended afterwards. The president was also stoked when he heard Colbert’s Late Show was canceled last year, although his final program is not until this May.

“I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired,” the president said last year. “His talent was even less than his ratings.”

Both Kimmel and Colbert have continued to mock Trump in 2026, with Kimmel last week saying Trump launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran as a “distraction” from the files on Jeffrey Epstein. Kimmel apparently did not see the recently-released file showing Trump thanked Florida cops for investigating Epstein in 2006 and telling them to focus on “evil” Ghislaine Maxwell.

Watch above via ABC.

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