Oscars Kick Off With #MeToo, Politics, and ... a Jet Ski

Watercraft up for grabs for shortest acceptance speech, per Jimmy Kimmel
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 4, 2018 7:39 PM CST
How the Oscars Kicked Off: Helen Mirren Giving Away a Jet Ski
Helen Mirren displays a Jet Ski as host Jimmy Kimmel speaks at the Oscars on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.   (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Jimmy Kimmel kicked off the 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre, his second turn hosting, by first riffing on last year's Academy Awards—specifically, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway messing up the best picture announcement. "This year when you hear your name called, don't get up right away," Kimmel instructed this year's nominees, per People. "Give us a minute. We don't want another thing." Kimmel also touched on the #MeToo and related movements, imploring the audience to listen to all of the women who would speak throughout the evening on the topic of sexual misconduct in Hollywood. Kimmel even gave a shoutout to the Oscar statue itself, applauding the gold symbol for always "[keeping] his hands where you can see them. Never says a rude word. And no penis at all," per the New York Daily News.

Kimmel did get serious when referencing Harvey Weinstein, noting that "what happened with Harvey, what's happening all over was long overdue. We can't let bad behavior slide anymore. The world is watching us." There was a little politics thrown in as well, including a dig at the commander in chief. "None other than President Trump called Get Out the best first three-quarters of a movie," Kimmel said, per Esquire. And he noted that "we don't make films like Call Me By Your Name [a film about a romantic relationship between a precocious teen boy and a 20-something male doctoral student] to make money. We make them to upset Mike Pence." But the biggest buzz from the monologue: who will walk away with the Jet Ski being "given away" by Helen Mirren, available to the person who makes the shortest acceptance speech, according to Kimmel. (More Oscars stories.)

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