President Donald Trump was the primary target for leftist Hollywood celebrities during the Oscars, as he, his family, or his administration was mentioned negatively fifteen times during the ceremony.
- Show host Jimmy Kimmel noted the Oscars broadcast was being watched “by more than 225 countries that now hate us,” thanks to Trump.
- Kimmel thanked Trump for bringing Hollywood together — “Remember last year when it seemed like the Oscars were racist?” he asked. “That’s gone, thanks to him.”
- Kimmel welcomed Isabelle Huppert, a French actress who was nominated for best actress: “I’m glad Homeland Security let you in tonight. I really am,” he joked.
- Kimmel referred to Trump’s calling actress Meryl Streep “overrated” after her anti-Trump speech during the Golden Globe and led the audience in a standing ovation for the actress.
- “Nice dress, by the way. Is that an Ivanka?” Kimmel asked Streep.
- Kimmel joked that Donald Trump tweets on the toilet. “Some of you will get to come up on this stage tonight and give a speech that the President of the United States will tweet about in all caps during his 5 a.m. bowel movement tomorrow,” he told the actors. “And I think that’s pretty darn excellent, if you ask me.”
- Kimmel referred to Trump’s repeated attacks on “fake news” and added a joke about Trump’s fake tan: “If there’s anyone here from CNN, or the LA Times or New York Times — if you work for anything with the word ‘Times” in it, even Medieval Times — I’d like to ask you to leave the building right now,” he said. “We have no tolerance for fake news. Fake tans, we love.”
- “And now, for something that is very rare nowadays: a president who believes in both arts and sciences,” Kimmel joked as he introduced Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs.
- Kimmel’s stunts included live-tweeting to Trump twice during the Oscars.”U up?” he asked, as it was clear that Trump had not tweeted yet. He also tweeted the hashtag “#MerylSaysHi” to the president.
- “We’re so sorry about what happened in Sweden last week,” Kimmel said, joking about Trump’s mention of attacks in the country.
- Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal criticized Trump’s promise to build a wall. “As a Mexican, as a Latin American, as a migrant worker, as a human being, I am against any form of wall that wants to separate us,” he said.
- Kimmel joked that Dr. Strange was also nominated as secretary of Housing and Urban Development, making fun of Trump’s pick of Dr. Ben Carson to lead that agency.
- Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs alluded to Trump’s campaign promise to secure the borders: “Tonight is proof that art has no borders, art has no single language, and art does not belong to a single faith,” she said.
- Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi protested Donald Trump’s travel ban by not attending the Oscars. “My absence is out of respect for the people of my country and those of the other six nations who have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the U.S.,” he said in a statement that was read during the ceremony.
- Barry Jenkins, the director of the film Moonlight, which (eventually) won Best Picture, promised to help people suffering during Trump’s presidency: “All you people out there who feel like there’s no mirror for you, that your life is not reflected, the Academy has your back; the ACLU has your back; we have your back; and for the next four years, we will not leave you alone. We will not forget you,” he said.