Recently, Jimmy Kimmel has used his platform as host of Jimmy Kimmel Tonight to touch on a number of political and current issues, but that won't be the case at this Sunday's Academy Awards. Kimmel returns to host the Oscars for a second time this year, and told Good Morning America that when it comes to #MeToo, the recent movement that encourages women in Hollywood and beyond to come forward about sexual assault and harassment, you won't be hearing his thoughts on stage.
"Well listen, here’s the thing. This show is not about reliving peoples’ sexual assaults," Kimmel explained to ABC News' Paula Faris. "It’s an award show for people who have been dreaming about maybe winning an Oscar for their whole lives and the last thing I want to do is ruin that for someone who is nominated for best leading actress… by making it unpleasant. That’s not what I want to do."
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His reasoning is that his jokes won't "stop any behaviour," they'll just remind those in the room who are survivors of their trauma.
That being said, it's definitely not something that should go unaddressed during the ceremony. While, yes, it's about giving awards, it's also an event that brings together the one industry that started the reckoning due to just how prevalent sexual assault and harassment really is in Hollywood. The whole point of #MeToo is that we can't keep letting these things go unsaid, but I appreciate Kimmel acknowledging that he's maybe not the one to say them.
Instead, let's hope the Oscars are a victory for women in many ways, not just for their accomplishments, but also as a cultural reminder of just how long they've suffered, and how we'll never, ever let it happen again.
Watch the full interview here.
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