Jimmy Kimmel Under Fire for Marring Robert Downey Jr.'s Big Oscars Night with 'Gross' Cheap Shot
Most people aware of Jimmy Kimmel agree he’s an unfunny, left-wing partisan hack.
But, despite knowing that, most believe he went too far making fun of Robert Downey Jr. at Sunday night’s Oscar ceremony.
Christopher Nolan’s magnum opus absolutely dominated, winning seven Oscars out of 13 nominations, with Downey winning his Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
Kimmel, however, decided this moment was the perfect time to dredge up Downey’s sordid history with drug addiction, a public low point of his career that Downey has made clear he doesn’t like talking about.
As seen in this video shared to the social media platform X by podcaster Patrick Bet-David, Kimmel began offering “congratulations” to Downey, continuing, “This is the highest point of Robert Downey Jr.’s long and illustrious career.” Warning: the punchline is crude.
A qualified dirtbag joke that wasn’t even funny.
Jimmy Kimmel does this on the night Downey wins his first Academy?
It’s people like @jimmykimmel that turn people off from watching this garbage.
It’s as if Kimmel is envious of how much RDJ is loved.
— Patrick Bet-David (@patrickbetdavid) March 11, 2024
Unfortunately, this seemed to be the point where Kimmel ran out of graciousness and propriety.
“Well, one of the highest points,” Kimmel said, and most of you probably already know where this is going. He paused seeing Downey put a finger to his nose, to which Kimmel responded, “Was that too on the nose, or was that a drug motion you made?”
Kimmel, after Downey motioned Kimmel to wrap it up, tried to rib Downey with a crude joke: “Is that an acceptance speech in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”
Then he finally let it go.
Downey, to his credit, responded with good humor and grace, but the good folks on X were quick to call out Kimmel’s tactless remarks.
As the original poster, Bet-David, wrote, it was a “qualified dirtbag joke that wasn’t even funny … It’s as if Kimmel is envious of how much RDJ is loved.”
Other users reposted the clip. One user commented, “Just really gross jokes from Kimmel. Downey even tried riffing past it but Kimmel just doubles down,” and another concurred, saying, “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.”
Just really gross jokes from Kimmel. Downey even tried riffing past it but Kimmel just doubles down https://t.co/oY4bXZ1NWw
— collin (@fiendformojitos) March 10, 2024
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
Political reporter Jim Geraghty summed up the public response to the unfunny joke, saying, “We can fume about Kimmel, or we can marvel at how cool Robert Downey Jr. is, in every circumstance, even when many of us would be angry or embarrassed.”
We can fume about Kimmel, or we can marvel at how cool Robert Downey Jr. is, in every circumstance, even when many of us would be angry or embarrassed. https://t.co/XJoFQ9rUMh
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) March 11, 2024
Of course, Kimmel has been a tactless, establishment shill for longer than he hasn’t. During the show, he also tried to slam Donald Trump’s criticism of his real time performance with a lame joke, and he has spent most his late night show bashing conservatives and praising the establishment.
Never forget, it was Kimmel who, on national television, proclaimed that unvaccinated folks should be turned away from hospitals and made fun of Donald Trump Jr. when he tested positive for coronavirus in 2020.
And that’s leaving aside Kimmel’s insufferable left-wing preachiness in spite of formerly performing in black face, publicly proclaiming his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein’s personal chef, and even joking about putting Trump’s children in cages.
Kimmel is not at all funny and makes his living criticizing people — often in cruel and unfair ways.
It was just pathetic to take a mean-spirited cheap shot at Downey’s well-documented drug problems on the night where he won his first Oscar.
That said, for as much as Kimmel deserves criticism, Downey himself deserves praise for handling Kimmel’s classless remarks with wit and grace, despite being decidedly unamused by the joke.
As Will Smith at the 2022 Oscars graphically demonstrated, that’s not an easy thing to do, especially in such a public setting on such a highly visible night.
The fact remains, Downey is a talented and beloved actor, who overcame debilitating addiction and personal struggles to redeem himself and his career.
And not even an unfunny, tactless joke from an unfunny, left-wing late night host can take that away from him.
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