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Kimmel gets political in Oscars opener

“I want to say thank you to President Trump,” Kimmel said. “Remember last year, when it seemed like the Oscars were racist?”
“I want to say thank you to President Trump,” Kimmel said. “Remember last year, when it seemed like the Oscars were racist?”

That didn’t take long.

Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel dove right into politics in his opener for the 89th Academy Awards, at one point mentioning President Donald Trump by name.

Kimmel started by noting that the country is “divided right now,” and urged Americans to reach out to those who share differing opinions.

“I would like to bury the hatchet with someone I’ve had issues with,” Kimmel said, segueing into a brief roasting of Massachusetts native Matt Damon.

“When I first met Matt, I was the fat one,” Kimmel said before teasing Damon for letting Casey Affleck star in “Manchester by the Sea” while Damon starred in “a Chinese ponytail movie instead.”

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Kimmel directly mentioned Trump a few times during his opener.

“I want to say thank you to President Trump,” the late night show host said. “I mean, remember last year, when it seemed like the Oscars were racist?”

He also joked around with Meryl Streep, who famously railed against Trump at the Golden Globes, asking her at one point, “Nice dress by the way, is that an Ivanka?” He also received a standing ovation after sarcastically calling Streep’s performances “overrated,” a word Trump used to define the actress after the Golden Globes.

“Everybody join me in giving Meryl Streep an undeserved round of applause,” Kimmel said.

Kimmel also alluded to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s banning of some reporters from a briefing on Friday, saying that reporters from CNN, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and others needed to leave.

‘‘We have no tolerance for fake news,’’ he said.

He also poked fun at the president’s penchant for tweeting, noting that Trump would likely send a post on Twitter about the night’s speeches during his 5 a.m. “bowel movement.”


Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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