Jimmy Kimmel hosted this year’s Oscars ceremony for the Academy Awards. However, he’s facing backlash on social media as a result of a joke he made. Specifically, users are upset that Jimmy Kimmel made fun of Robert Downey Jr.’s past drug use.
This isn’t Kimmel’s first time hosting the Academy Awards. In fact, it’s actually his fourth time with hosting duties for the ceremony. It is, however, the first time he chose to poke fun at Robert Downey Jr.’s past when mentioning his nomination for Best Supporting Actor in Oppenheimer.
Here’s what Kimmel stated:
“This [nomination] is the highest point of Robert Downey Jr’s long and illustrious career — well, one of the highest points.”
At this point, however, the camera at the ceremony cut to Downey Jr. himself. He was pictured sitting in the crowd at the time and he motioned that Kimmel’s joke was too “on the nose,” and furthermore, that he wanted him to wrap it up.
Kimmel took the opportunity to fit in one more jab, however, and asked the following:
“Is that too on the nose, or is that a drug motion you made?”
Here are some of the complaints that social media users shared in response:
Making fun of the drug issues of Robert Downey Jr. is actually pretty lame. I’m not surprised though, because Jimmy Kimmel has always sucked.#Oscars pic.twitter.com/LwsEhKwFr6
— Craig R. Brittain (@RealBrittain) March 10, 2024
Highlighting someone’s old drug addiction in front of a millions of ppl could be triggering. SMH
Kimmel’s streak as worst #Oscars host continues
— THEE RENAISSONCE’ 🐝 ACTII 🐝 3 29 24 (@naeeve_) March 10, 2024
Kind of a low blow by Kimmel joking about RDJ’s past. Addiction isn’t really a joking matter 🤷♂️ #Oscar #Oscars2024
— ethn_bst (@ethn_bst) March 10, 2024
Did Kimmel really need to mention RDJ’s past substance abuse issues? It’s been like 20 years.
Maybe it’s just me but at what point is it just shaming him? #Oscars
— Riff Randell (@_RiffRandell) March 10, 2024
When Jimmy Kimmel is still doing drug jokes about Robert Downey Jr. after he’s been sober for two decades. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/1so8qh4t5j
— Vince 22 (@VinceG222) March 11, 2024
It seems as though many users feel that Kimmel went too far with his jokes, and furthermore, that sharing them in front of millions wasn’t exactly the best place to make them.
It’s worth noting that Robert Downey Jr. has previously been quite reluctant to discuss his past, and he’s even walked away from interviews when asked about his former drug use problems. As such, it’s quite understandable if fans felt like Kimmel went a little too far at the ceremony.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates on Jimmy Kimmel and Robert Downey Jr. as we have them. It’ll certainly be interesting