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Jimmy Kimmel is in therapy. Last year’s Oscar best picture blunder is giving the Academy Awards host nightmares - or so goes one of the comedian’s video promotions for Sunday’s ceremony.
Look at the picture now to remember that bloomer which made the artistic world frozen for a few minutes in embarrassment. Right in the backstage of 2017 when the envelope mix-up made the top prize in the movie industry briefly being awarded to the “La La Land” rather than actual winner the “Moonlight"
Jimmy Kimmel was there on 2017, and he returns as Oscar master of ceremonies for a second year in 2018. No doubt why he is in therapy now. No he isn't.
The artistic world is expecting (looks more than they demand) from Kimmel to navigate the #MeToo sexual misconduct scandal that has rocked Hollywood in front of a live audience of A-list celebrities, many of whom say they are victims, as well as millions watching at home.
He is also expected to throw in jokes about U.S. President Donald Trump, last year’s best picture flub, the biggest pop culture moments of the past year, and the movies and performances up for the highest honors in show business.
“This year, the casting couch is the target of Hollywood. That’s going to be the theme of the night, from the jokes told by Jimmy Kimmel to the winners who are announced,” said Tom O’Neil, founder of awards website GoldDerby.com
“He can’t avoid the subject of #MeToo and he must treat it with delicacy and sensitivity while at the same time being fearless and lampooning it. So he has a very difficult role,” O’Neil said.
Jimmy Kimmel told ABC News earlier this week. “This show is not about reliving people’s sexual assaults, it’s an awards show for people who have been dreaming about maybe winning an Oscar for their whole lives.”
Known for his genial but deadpan delivery, Kimmel got high marks as last year’s Academy Awards host when then-newly elected Trump and his policies became a running gag.
Since then, spurred by a heart condition affecting his newborn son, he has adopted a sharper edge on his television talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” where he has attacked Republican efforts to scuttle former President Barack Obama’s healthcare reforms.
He has said he does not intend to use the Oscars “as a platform for healthcare.”
Tim Gray, awards editor at Hollywood trade publication Variety, said, "It would “look very weird” if Kimmel does not address #MeToo, which has been the number one topic in Hollywood for five months, on the night the movie industry celebrates itself. Nevertheless, Jimmy Kimmel is the right man for the job. He is smart and really funny. I think he’ll be fine.”
Hollywood's biggest awards show, the 90th Academy Awards, will be held on Sunday night March 4th, 2018 at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles California.
Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel the Oscars are officially scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m. ET.
CBS News will cover the red carpet starting at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Jonathan Oatis
