Jimmy Kimmel on CBS in subtle Oscars satire, Trump in Charlie Kirk feud; ‘North Korea and…’

Kimmel mentioned that at one point, ABC, which hosts his show, briefly suspended the show due to Kimmel’s comments about the death of founder Charlie Kirk. The 58-year-old host was eventually resurrected at the network after facing backlash from ABC parent company Disney.

Kimmel recalled the incident and indirectly lampooned ABC by naming CBS and Donald Trump in a brief speech before announcing the winner of the 2026 election. Academy Awards Best Documentary.

“As you know, there are countries whose leaders do not support free speech. I am not at liberty to say which countries. Let’s leave that to North Korea and CBS,” Kimmel said as the Dolby Theater erupted in applause.

Kimmel also didn’t spare US First Lady Melania Trump, who is the subject of a much-hyped documentary about her life. Kimmel joked that Trump would be very angry if “Melania” didn’t win the Oscar for best documentary.

“Boy, is he going to be mad that his wife didn’t get a nomination?” Kimmel joked.

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Kimmel said the MAGA gang was “desperately trying to frame this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as something other than one of them.” He also accused them of “gaining political points” from it.

Conservatives have accused Kimmel of misleadingly suggesting that Robinson, the gunman, was a supporter of Donald Trump. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr called it misleading, prompting ABC to indefinitely suspend the show on Sept. 17.

The show went on hiatus for six days before resuming on September 23.