The 95th Academy Awards ceremony host Jimmy Kimmel has been derided for singling out Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai during Sunday night’s show, with critics saying his exchange with the Taliban survivor ranking amongst “the worst they had ever seen.”
The host, 55, left the Pakistani peace advocate, 25, visibly squirming as he approached her during a break in proceedings.
He then delivered an awkward digression about Harry Styles and Chris Pine’s “spit-gate” drama.
Malala Yousafzai approached by host Jimmy Kimmel at the 95th Annual Academy Awards held at Dolby Theatre on March 12, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Rich Polk/Variety via Getty Images)
Kimmel read out a question purportedly from a fan named Joanne, saying:
She asked, your work on human rights and education for women and children is an inspiration–as the youngest Nobel prize winner in history, do you think Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine?
Malala was left baffled and could only retort: “I only talk about peace” even as the audience laughed at the reference to the viral incident between the Don’t Worry Darling stars which took the web by storm last year.
Kimmel responded: “You know what, that’s why you’re Malala and nobody else is. That’s a great answer, Malala. The winner is malala-land, everybody.”
Malala later took to Twitter and added her own comment, simply saying: “Treat people with kindness.”
Others expressed their distaste for Kimmel on Twitter:
Malala experienced a second uncomfortable moment later in the evening.
An actor dressed as the bear from Cocaine Bear entered the auditorium during a skit and pestered those in attendance.
As it approached Malala, Jimmy yelled: “Cocaine bear, leave Malala alone!”
Fans were quick to respond to that as well. One typed: “jimmy kimmel is a national disgrace. this woman deserves better’ while a second wrote: ‘why did jimmy kimmel and the cocaine bear just harass malala oh my god leave her alone.”
The 27-year-old Pakistani human rights campaigner was shot by the Taliban for daring to want an education.
Malala Yousafzai attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Cindy Ord/VF23/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)
Yousafzai was targeted specifically for her objections to the terrorist group’s Islamic ruling that limits girls’ access to education. She was shot while returning home from school in Pakistan’s Swat Valley in 2012.
She traveled to the English city of Birmingham for medical treatment and her family eventually joined her.