Jimmy Kimmel turned a short comeback to the Oscars stage into a pointed critique of both First Lady Melania Trump’s widely panned film and CBS’s recent editorial moves, delivering some of the sharpest political lines at the 98th Academy Awards.
The 58-year-old late-night host, a four-time Oscars emcee, presented Best Documentary Short Film and Best Documentary Feature at the Dolby Theater on March 15, 2026, using both segments to lampoon the Trump administration and media outlets he alleges have bowed to presidential pressure.
“As you know, there are some countries whose leaders don’t support free speech. I’m not at liberty to say which,” Kimmel told the star-studded audience. “Let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS.”
The barb was aimed at CBS’s changes over the past year, including the July 2025 announcement that “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” would end in May 2026. Paramount, CBS’s parent, also settled a lawsuit with President Donald Trump for $16 million in July 2025 over a “60 Minutes” interview—a settlement many legal observers deemed unnecessary given questions about the suit’s merits.
Kimmel reserved his harshest lines for the first lady’s documentary “Melania,” which premiered at the Kennedy Center on January 29, 2025, and opened in theaters on January 30, 2025. Directed by Brett Ratner, the film was widely panned and holds a 1.4 out of 10 on IMDB—with the site flagging “unusual voting activity”—even though Amazon MGM Studios paid $40 million for distribution rights and spent another $35 million on promotion.
“Fortunately for all of us there’s an international community of filmmakers dedicated to telling the truth, oftentimes at great risk to make films that teach us, that call out injustice, that inspire us to take action,” Kimmel said. “And there are also documentaries where you walk around the White House trying on shoes.”
Before announcing the Best Documentary Feature winner, Kimmel added: “Oh man, is he going to be mad his wife wasn’t nominated for this.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung replied on social media, calling Kimmel a “classless hack who is self-projecting his depression and sadness onto others.”
The documentary follows Melania Trump during the 20 days before President Trump’s return to office in January 2025 and has been criticized for focusing more on image and fashion than substance. On Rotten Tomatoes, it set a record for the largest gap between critics’ scores (11%) and audience ratings (99%) in the site’s history. Kimmel has repeatedly called the film a “vanity documentary” on his ABC show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and questioned its reported $7 million opening weekend box office.
On his late-night program, Kimmel suggested the film’s box office numbers might have been inflated. The documentary opened on over 1,500 screens but finished its theatrical run with only $16 million to $20 million—far below its $75 million total cost.
The appearance continued Kimmel’s extended feud with President Trump, which escalated after Trump’s second inauguration. In September 2025, ABC suspended Kimmel for six days over remarks about reactions to the assassination of conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk, after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr threatened action against ABC affiliates; the show returned following public backlash.
Kimmel’s clashes with Trump included a notable moment at the 2024 Oscars when he read a Truth Social post from Trump criticizing his hosting and replied onstage: “Thank you, President Trump. Thank you for watching. Isn’t it past your jail time?”
Conan O’Brien succeeded Kimmel as Oscars host beginning in 2025 and returned for a second year in 2026.
Despite President Trump promoting the documentary as “a must watch” and its Kennedy Center premiere, “Melania” lost money in theaters. Audiences gave it an “A” CinemaScore, a stark contrast to critics—Metacritic assigned it a 5 out of 100, signaling “overwhelming dislike.”
On “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” last week, the host also ridiculed the film’s genre branding. “Between this and ‘Sinners,’ it’s been a big year for vampire movies,” he joked.
The Oscars moment revived the familiar intersection of Hollywood and Trump-era politics at a ceremony increasingly used for pointed cultural statements. Kimmel’s remarks earned prolonged applause from the Dolby Theater audience, suggesting his jabs landed with the entertainment industry’s mostly liberal crowd.
