Jimmy Kimmel Goes Political; ‘Moonlight’ Wins Best Picture

The red carpet was a completely flat affair — though some celebrities wore blue ribbons supporting the ACLU — even if some of the folks doing the interviewing went fishing for political comments.

For instance, none other than Ryan Seacrest asked Best Supporting Actress front-runner Viola Davis — she really should have been up for Best Actress, but no one seemed to care about that — who would be at the forefront of her mind should she ultimately make an acceptance speech. Davis seemed to know what Seacrest was looking for, but demurred, “August Wilson [the writer of the film she was nominated for, ‘Fences’], and his message of humanity.”

And when Davis did win, she thanked ol’ August, costar Denzel Washington, her parents, husband, kids … you get the picture. Best Supporting Actor winner Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight”) kept it classy, too, acknowledging his teachers first and foremost in a speech that put host Jimmy Kimmel’s politically motivated opening monologue to shame.

Best Supporting Actor winner Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight”) kept it classy too, acknowledging his teachers first and foremost in a speech that put host Jimmy Kimmel’s politically motivated opening monologue to shame.

Not only did Kimmel mention that the 89th Academy Awards were being watched in 230 countries, he added that those countries “hate us.” He then suggested that President Donald Trump was more racist than the famously #OscarsSoWhite Academy Awards. “I want to say thank you to President Trump. Remember last year when it seemed like the Oscars were racist? That’s gone, thanks to him,” joked Kimmel.

The focus on political humor was predictable and something a small group of Trump supporters were protesting ahead of the awards ceremony. A rally leading up to the Academy Awards was held at Hollywood and Vine, not far from the Dolby Theater — where Sunday night’s ceremony took place. The Los Angeles Times reported around a dozen Trump supporters held signs reading things like, “Celebrities don’t speak for us” and “Hollywood, don’t divide us,” presumably all in response to the increasing political tone of Hollywood award shows.

Early on, Kimmel did manage to strike a serious tone, albeit briefly. He spoke of the country’s coming together — both liberals and conservatives — and simply being considerate of one another. He said something to the effect of healthy disagreement being fine as long as both sides were considerate, even punctuating his very short speech with a “make America great again” — which was either an oversight or a gargantuan step in the right direction.

Probably the former — as next came Meryl Streep.

The moment with Streep started out fine. Kimmel then riffed on her being “overrated,” which, of course, is what President Trump said about her after her infamous political Golden Globes rant.

Related: Oscars Prove Again They’re Out of Touch

Later, Kimmel would ask all press to leave the room — a reference to the president’s continuing battle with the media. He joked that in Hollywood, “We love fake tans, but not fake news.” He was all but flat-lining at that point. Everything seemed forced and was obviously unoriginal.

Curiously, his biggest flub came not after a Trump slam, but rather after one about O.J. Simpson. Yup, Best Documentary Feature went to “Made in America” — which chronicled the days leading up to and following the infamous ’90s O.J. Simpson murder trial. Kimmel said O.J. could now have an extra slice of bologna on his sandwich as a result of the win. Mel Gibson, sitting nearby, was seen groaning. Kimmel, ashen-faced, then said, “It was halfway through the show when he lost the crowd completely.”

But that didn’t stop the Trump digs. He easily exceeded 20 over the course of the night.

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By the time Best Foreign Film went to Iran’s Asghar Farhadi, for “The Salesman,” Kimmel could have eased up on the anti-Trump nonsense if he were inclined to do so. Declining to show, Farhadi instead had someone read prepared remarks in his absence, in which he bemoaned the current refugee ban in place and got didactic about national security.

“I’m sorry I’m not with you tonight. My absence is out of respect for the people of my country and those of other six nations who have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the U.S.,” the prepared statement read.

There were smatterings beyond this — a presenter who talked about not liking walls that “separate us” (actor Gael Garcia Bernal — as if he weren’t surrounded by the physical walls of the Dolby Theater).

Major awards of the night included Best Actor for Casey Affleck for “Manchester by the Sea,” Best Actress for Emma Stone (“La La Land”), and Best Director to Damien Chazelle (“La La Land”). The highest honor of the night — Best Picture — went to “Moonlight,” though “La La Land” was originally announced as the winner by mistake. Oops.