Oscars 2024: Jimmy Kimmel makes awkward quip about Robert Downey Jr (2024)

Jimmy Kimmel roasted Robert Downey Jr's manhood and past drug use in his bombshell opening monologue at the 2024 Oscars on Sunday - while also appearing to upset actress Emma Stone.

The host, 56, returning for the fourth time, left the A-listers grinning and cringing in equal measure as he took to the stage.

Downey Jr. 58, who won Best Supporting Actor for Oppenheimer was stony-faced as Kimmel made a crass joke at the start of the ceremony - referring to the reformed co*ke addict's past addictions.

He said: 'And Robert Downey Jr., one of the highest points of his career. But Robert has been' - as RDJ pointed at his face, leading Kimmel to add: 'Was that too on the nose or a drug motion you made?

'But look at him, he's so handsome, so talented, he's won every award there is to win. Is that an acceptance speech in your pocket or do you just have a very rectangular penis?'

The joke fell flat as RDJ looked somber while staring at the camera while fans slammed Kimmel for his 'bottom of the barrel' jokes about substance abuse.

Later, Kimmel appeared to catch the ire of Emma Stone as he lampooned her performance in Poor Things, joking about the explicit sex scenes by saying: 'Those were all the parts of Poor Things that we’re allowed to show on TV.'

The camera then cut to Stone making a less than impressed face, with some speculating she even called him a 'p***k.'

Downey Jr. had previously spent time behind bars in 1999 after a long period of substance abuse which stifled his career.

He added: '20 years ago, Robert played the villain, and correct me if I have this wrong, in a movie where Tim Allen turns into a dog, right? And if you ever decide to remake that film, I have just the guy to play Tim Allen.

The actor's legal troubles began in 1996 when he was stopped for speeding and authorities found of heroin, cocaine and an unloaded .357 caliber Magnum. A year later, he skipped a court-ordered drug test and spent nearly four months in the Los Angeles County jail.

Following this, he then skipped another drug test and was sentenced to three years of prison in 1999. During this time, Downey Jr. served 15 months in state prison in Corcoran, California.

A few months after his release, he was arrested on Thanksgiving weekend for alleged cocaine and Valium possession and being under the influence of drugs.

The valium charge was eventually reduced to a misdemeanor, he pleaded no contest to the remaining charges and avoided more jail time.

In 2001, he was found walking bare foot around Culver City, Los Angeles, and was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs.

Following year of substance abuse, arrests, rehabs and relapse, Downey made a full recovery and has since gone on to achieve global recognition.

Another cringeworthy moment saw a naked John Cena dragged onstage by Kimmel in a skit marking the 50th anniversary of the iconic Oscars streaker.

Kimmel said 'At the 46th Academy Awards in 1974, David Iven was introducing Elizabeth Taylor when a nude man, a streaker, ran across the stage, which -- can you imagine if a nude man ran across the stage today? I

'I said, can you imagine if -- a nude man ran across the stage today? Wouldn't that be crazy?

Cena backstage then said: 'Psst! Psst, Jimmy! Come here.

Kimmel said: 'I can't come there -- do the thing! Excuse me for a second. What's going on? You're supposed to run across the stage' as Cena said: 'Yeah, I -- changed my mind. I don't want to do the streaker bit.'

'I just don't feel right about it. It's an elegant event, you know, you should feel shame right now for suggesting such a tasteless...

Kimmel said: 'You wrestle naked, why not?' as Cena said: 'I don't wrestle naked, I wrestle in jorts.'

Cena said: 'Costumes -- they are so important. Maybe the most important thing there is. I -- I can't open the envelope. Can anybody help me?

As well as fans, Kimmel's hosting also irked former President Donald Trump who took to Truth Social to write: 'Has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel at The Oscars. His opening was that of a less than average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be.

'Get rid of Kimmel and perhaps replace him with another washed up, but cheap, ABC “talent,” George Slopanopoulos. He would make everybody on stage look bigger, stronger, and more glamorous.

'Also a really bad politically correct show tonight, and for years - Disjointed, boring, and very unfair. Why don’t they just give the Oscars to those that deserve them. Maybe that way their audience and TV ratings will come back from the depths. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!'

Kimmel made light of the dig by reading out the message and saying: 'Thank you President Trump. Thank you for watching. I’m surprised you’re still ah…isn’t it past your jail time?'

Kimmel also took a swipe at box office bomb Madame Web starring Dakota Johnson as he said: 'The show, as you know, is starting an hour early this year, but don't worry, it will still end very, very late. In fact, we're already five minutes over and I am not joking.

'I'm not going to lie, it's going to be a long night, after what was a long year. It was a hard year, but it was also a great year for movies, despite the fact that everything stopped. The people in this room somehow managed to come up with so many excellent films and memorable performances, this night is full of enormous talent, and untold potential.

'But so was Madame Web, but who knows. Are we off to a bumpy start in this is a meaningful occasion. This is something you dreamed about as a kid. And now, here we are, all dressed up, celebrating the best of the best, beginning with the biggest movie of the year, Barbie.

Shifting the focus to Barbie's notable snubs in the Best Actress and director category for Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig, he said: 'Barbie was a monster hit.What a thing. What an achievement to take a plastic doll nobody even liked anymore, I mean, my wife, before this movie, you would had a better chance getting my wife to buy my daughter a pack of Marlboro Reds than a Barbie doll.

'Now Barbie is a feminist icon, thanks to Greta Gerwig, who many believed deserved to nominated for best director tonight.

'Hold on a second. I know you're clapping, but you're the ones who didn't vote for her, by the way. Don't act like you had nothing to do with this. And I don't want to leave out Margot Robbie, Margot put this giant hit together. She did.

'Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are here tonight. Look, kids, it's Barbie and Ken sitting near each other. Ryan, Margot, I want you to know that even if neither one of you wins an Oscar tonight, you both already won something much more important -- the genetic lottery.

'Ryan, you are so hot. Let's go camping together and not tell our wives. And then we have the other major box office winner this year,

Elsewhere in the monologue Kimmel ripped Christopher Nolan for his interesting approach to making movies, saying: 'Oppenheimer, directed by the great Christopher Nolan. Also a very attractive man.

'And this is a very -- this is a fascinating person. Christopher Nolan doesn't have a smartphone, he doesn't use email. And he writes his scripts on a computer with no internet connection, which is a powerful way of saying, I will not allow my p*rn addiction to get in the way of my work.

'Christopher is joined by his longtime collaborator, Cillian Murphy, who is just wonderful. Interesting fact about his name, it's pronounced Cillian, it's silly Ann when he's doing comedy.'

'The second most nominated film of the year is Poor Things. There he is. Not only is Yorgos nominated for best director, his editor, whose name is also Yorgos, is nominated, too. We have two Yorgoses in in the house tonight. Will they both win?

'Yorgos is as good as mine. All right, let's get 20 seconds for room tone? Emma stone is an Oscar nominee for a fifth time. And Emma, you are -- you are so unbelievably great in Poor Things.

'Emma played an adult woman with the brain of a child, like the lady who gave the rebuttal to the state of the union on Thursday night. And you are just amazing. There were so many great movies that held audiences captive this And I mean that literally. Your movies were too long this year.

'The average length of the top ten movies was 2 hours and 23 minutes. That's up 30 minutes from three years ago. When I went to see Killers of the Flower Moon I had my mail sent to the theater.

'It's so long, you could drive to Oklahoma and solve the murders yourself. The multitalented Bradley Cooper is here with us tonight, with his -- he's got another best picture nominee. With Maestro.

'You brought your mom to the show tonight? Hi, Mrs. Cooper, how are you? Doing great? Bradley brings his mother to award shows. Last year at the Oscars and -- not -- okay, but and the Tonys and the Soul Train Awards, et cetera.

'It's very sweet, but the question is, how many times can one bring his mom as his date before he is actually dating his mom? Are you working on a movie about Freud right now and not telling us?

'Here's some fun Oscar trivia. 48 years ago, Robert de Niro and Jodie Foster were nominated for Taxi Driver and are both nominated again tonight. 1976 was the year. That's pretty crazy.

'In 1976, Jodie foster was young enough to be Robert de Niro's daughter. Now, she's 20 years too old to be his girlfriend. I also want to congratulate Robert's costar Lily Gladstone, who is the first native American ever to be nominated for best actress.

'Did you know that before she got this movie, she was ready to quit acting and take a job at the department of agriculture tracking murder hornets, right? And now she's nominated for an Oscar which is so great for her, but makes me worry that no one is tracking these murder hornets. Lily is in excellent company.

'We have many first-time nominees, Emily Blunt, Jeffrey Wright, sterling K. Brown, America Ferrera. Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Da'vine joy Randolph, and Sandra Huller.

'Three foreign language films are up for best picture and two of them star Sandra Huller, which is -- I mean -- Sandra, two movies, Sandra plays a woman on trial for murdering her husband in Anatomy of a Fall and a Nazi housewife living next to Auschwitz in The Zone of Interest.

'And while these are heavy subjects for American movie-goers, in Sandra's native Germany, they're called rom-coms. For the first time in more than two decades, we're adding a new category to the Oscars.

'Not tonight. In the future, they'll add an Oscar for achievement in casting, which -- yeah, you better -- you'd better applaud for that. And that is great news for actors, because now not only will we be able to watch someone else win an Oscar for a part you didn't get, you'll be able to watch the person who didn't think you were right for it win one, too.

'What a year we've had. Remember that kid from The Fabelmans. This is what he looks like now. Very good to have you here, Steven. Steven, are you nominated tonight or are you here because you have season tickets? Steven and his wife donated a lot of money to help actors and writers who were out of work later this summer.

'We were on strike for a long time. For five months, this group, the people who actually make the films, said, we will not accept a deal -- well, not the directors, you guys folded immediately, but the rest of us said, we will not accept a deal without protections against artificial intelligence, and as a result, actors no longer have to worry about getting replaced by A.I., thanks to this historic agreement, actors are now able to go back to worries about being replaced by younger, more attractive people, and I think that's great.

'And writers, could A.I. Have written Transformers: Rise of the Beasts? Yes, the answer is yes. We learned a lot while we were out on the picket line.

'The strike raised questions about our industry, like, if a movie premiers at the grove and there are no actors there to promote it, does Mario Lopez make a sound? And now that the strike is over, now that Fran Drescher has returned to her volunteer work reading loudly to the hearing impaired, we can be proud of the fact that this long and difficult work stoppage taught us that this very strange town as ours, at its heart, is a union town.

'It's not just a bunch of heavily botoxed, Hailey Bieber smoothie-drinking nepo babies with perpetually shivering think chihuahuas. Women and men who would die if we had to touch the handle of a shovel.

'But the reason we were able to make a deal is because of the people who rallied beside us. Before we celebrate ourselves, let's have a very well deserved round of applause for the people who work behind the scenes, the teamsters, the truck drivers, gaffers, grips, that's right.

'All the people who refused to cross the picket lines. There they are. If you are wearing sketchers to the Oscars, take a bow. Come on, guys, take a bow. Take a bow. You deserve it. Thank you for standing with us. [ Applause ]

'And also, we want you to know that -- [ applause ] In you're upcoming negotiation, we will stand with you, too. And also, I'm going to make sure the show goes really long tonight, so, you get a ton of overtime. It's golden time, everybody!

Oppenheimer won a whopping seven Oscars at Sunday night's Academy Awards- while rival Barbie only won one.

Meanwhile Emma Stone led Poor Things to an impressive four including her Best Actress win and UK film The Zone Of Interest won two at the gala event held at The Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.

The historical epic directed by Christopher Nolan swept the major categories with wins for Best Actor Cillian Murphy, Best Supporting Actor Robert Downey Jr. and Nolan - with the film also winning Best Picture.

In contrast, Barbie, who memorably won against Oppenheimer in the 'Barbenheimer' box office showdown over the summer, walked away with just one award for Best Original Song for What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish and Finneas McConnell.

Downey Jr. jokingly thanked his 'terrible childhood' as he finally won an Oscar for his portrayal of Lewis Strauss, was delighted as he took to the stage -after host Jimmy Kimmel made a very awkward quip about his drug use.

The veteran actor - who has acted for over five decades - took home the Academy Award over stiff competition including Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction, Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon, Ryan Gosling, Barbie, and Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things.

Oppenheimer won seven awards in total - as well as Best Actor for Cillian Murphy, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director for Christopher Nolan, and Best Picture, it won Original Score for Ludwig Göransson - along with cinematography and achievement in film editing.

Al Pacinoannounced Oppenheimer as the Best Picture winner without bothering to name all the other nominees.

After the two films were released on the same day - July 21 - Barbenheimer gripped film fans who made an event out of going directly from the screening of one to the other.

Barbie was the highest-grossing movie of the year on both the domestic ($636.2 million) and worldwide ($1.445 billion) box office charts.

Oppenheimer took fifth place ($326.1 million) on the domestic box office charts and third place ($957.8 million) on the worldwide charts.

Meanwhile Emma, 35, powered through a wardrobe malfunction as she beat out an impressive field including favorite Lily Gladstone from Killers Of The Flower Moon in addition to Annette Bening, Nyad,Sandra Huller, Anatomy of a Fall, and Carey Mulligan, Maestro.

As Emma was walking on stage she signaled that there was something wrong with her dress as she quickly acknowledged it during her emotional acceptance speech.

She said: 'Oh, boy. My dress is broken. I think it happened during I'm Just Ken. I'm pretty sure. Oh, boy, this is really -- this is really overwhelming. Sorry, I'm -- okay, my voice is also a little gone. Whatever.'

Da'Vine Joy Randolph emotionally kicked off the Oscars as she broke into tears as she earned the covetedActress in a Supporting Role for The Holdovers.

The talented 37-year-old actress beat out stiff competition including Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer, Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple, America Ferrera, Barbie, and Jodie Foster, Nyad.