The 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' host's opening speech also tackles last year's 'envelopegate' incident and Hollywood's treatment to women.
- Mar 5, 2018
AceShowbiz - Jimmy Kimmel offered something big during his opening monologue at the 90th annual Academy Awards. The comedian promised that he would be giving away a jet ski to whoever gives the shortest acceptance speech at the award show.
"Here's what we're gonna do," he said. "I'm not saying you shouldn't give a long speech, but whoever gives the shortest speech tonight, will go home with... Johnny tell them what they'll win!" Following that, a screen lifted up at the back of the stage to reveal Helen Mirren showing off a beautiful lime green Kawasaki jet ski.
He joked, "Why waste precious time thanking your mom when you could be taking her for the ride of her life on a brand new jet ski?" Kimmel added that this was not a joke as he held up a stopwatch and said, "This is not a joke. I will be timing you. I have a stopwatch. The moment you are handed that Oscar, the clock will start ticking. So get up here, grab it and go."
The late night talk show host also poked fun at last year's "envelopegate" incident, where "La La Land" was accidentally awarded the Best Picture instead of "Moonlight". He reminded the nominees, "This year, when you hear your name called, don't get up right away."
Kimmel then joked that the PricewaterhouseCoopers accountants who botched the envelopes last year were just trying to do a comedy routine that didn't go very well. "This time, the chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers said, and I quote, 'Our singular focus will be on the show and delivering the correct envelopes,' which does make sense," he noted. "Just out of curiosity, what was your focus the other 89 years?"
The comedy bit aside, Kimmel also talked about Hollywood's treatment of women. Addressing "All the Money in the World" scandal, where Michelle Williams was only paid $80 per diem for the reshoots, Kimmel said, "This story really surprised me. This one shook me, because if we can't trust agents -- who can we trust?"
"A film that's up for 13 Oscars is 'The Shape of Water', written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, a wonderful man... and thanks to Guillermo, we will always remember this year as the year men screwed up so badly," he continued. "women started dating fish."
Kimmel then addressed sexual harassment scandal, remarking that "we can't let bad behavior slide anymore." He said, "The world is watching us. We need to set an example. And the truth is, if we are successful here, if we can work together to stop sexual harassment in the workplace, if we can do that, women will only have to deal with harassment all the time at every other place they go."
