Oscars 2018: Jimmy Kimmel hits out at Mike Pence during his opening monologue
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel hit out at Vice President Mike Pence during his opening monologue at the Academy Awards.
Call Me By Your Name, a gay love story, was one of the films nominated for Best Picture at the 90th Academy Awards.
Although all of the nine films were commercial successes, only two of the nominees for Best Picture made over $100 million at the box office.
Addressing this in his opening monologue, host Jimmy Kimmel quickly turned it into a jibe at Mike Pence’s reported anti-gay stance.
(Photo by Matt Petit/A.M.P.A.S via Getty Images)
He said: “We don’t make films like Call Me By Your Name for money, we make them to upset Mike Pence.”
The film, which stars Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet, won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
The Shape of Water, a film which explores the romance between a mute janitor and her aquatic love interest, won Best Picture.
Based on the novel by André Aciman, Call Me By Your Name follows the blossoming relationship between 17-year-old Jewish American Elio (Chalamet) and his architect father’s assistant Oliver (Hammer) in 1980’s Italy.
Mike Pence, Vice President to Donald Trump, is notoriously anti-LGBT.
(Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)
He has previously shown support for so-called ‘conversion’ therapy, passed legislation allowing businesses to discriminate against LGBT people and has opposed hate crime protections.
Fact check: What is Mike Pence’s record on LGBT rights?
It’s safe to say that Pence probably wasn’t first in line to see Call Me By Your Name.
Kimmel also took time in his opening monologue to condemn Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced Hollywood producer who is currently facing a class action lawsuit against his alleged sexual misconduct against dozens of women.
Weinstein was recently forced to apologise for trying to use famed actresses Meryl Streep and Jennifer Laurence to defend himself.
Turning to face the large Academy Award statuette on the stage, Kimmel said: “Oscar is the most beloved and respected man in Hollywood, and there’s a very good reason why. Just look at him.
“Keeps his hands where you can see them, never says a rude word, and most importantly, no penis at all.
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
“He is literally a statue of limitations, and that’s the kind of men we need more of in this town.”
Here’s the list of who won and who was shunned at the Oscars
