ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel last September for politicizing Charlie Kirk's assassination.
He came back with zero remorse and went straight back to attacking the president.
Sunday night at the Oscars, he couldn't even hand out a documentary award without taking a swipe at the First Lady – and Megyn Kelly had something to say about it.
Kimmel Used a Presenter's Slot to Punch at Melania
Kimmel wasn't hosting the 98th Academy Awards.
He was there to present two documentary categories – a job that takes about four minutes.
He used those four minutes to work in three separate shots at the Trumps.
First, while praising documentary filmmakers for their courage, he pivoted: "And there are also documentaries where you walk around the White House trying on shoes."
Then, presenting Best Documentary Feature: "Oh man, is he going to be mad his wife wasn't nominated for this."
He also took aim at CBS – the network Trump allies now effectively control through Paramount Skydance – comparing it to North Korea as a place where free speech doesn't exist.
Every one of those lines landed exactly the way Kimmel wanted.
The Hollywood crowd cheered. He got his applause.
Kelly Called It What It Was
Megyn Kelly has been publicly critical of Trump's Iran military action.
She didn't let that stop her from calling out a cheap shot at the First Lady.
On the Monday episode of The Megyn Kelly Show, she went straight at Kimmel.
"OK, so he's got to slam the first lady – nice," Kelly said. "By the way, her documentary has done very, very well. It's pulled in tens of millions of dollars, way more than any documentary of its kind."
Kelly pointed out that Kimmel had two chances onstage and used both of them to go after the Trumps.
"He's incapable of even complimenting the first lady or just staying away from her. He cannot help himself and got a big laugh from the audience. It's disgusting," she said.
https://twitter.com/radar_online/status/2034608340345454688?s=20
She also went after Oscars host Conan O'Brien, who kicked off the show by joking that viewers uncomfortable with political humor could catch "an alternate Oscars hosted by Kid Rock at the Dave and Buster's down the street."
That was a shot at the Turning Point USA halftime show – the one Charlie Kirk's organization put together after Bad Bunny was booked to perform at the Super Bowl.
"Turning Point doesn't have the same money that the Hollywood crowd has," Kelly said. "Though they put on an amazing show that actually set records, which you would know, Conan, if you would take one step out of your white-privilege, woke Hollywood bubble."
Her closing verdict on both of them: "Conan, Jimmy: predictable."
The White House Didn't Stay Quiet Either
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung responded within hours, calling Kimmel a "classless hack who is self-projecting his depression and sadness onto others."
"He lives a pathetic existence where nobody – not even his family – enjoys his miserable company," Cheung continued. "The only people giving him any attention are Hollywood Elites."
Fox News film critic Kyle Smith added something the Hollywood audience either didn't know or didn't care about.
Melania was released in January 2026. The 98th Academy Awards only honored 2025 films.
https://twitter.com/MegynKellyShow/status/2033619307998154893?s=20
Kimmel's entire bit was built on a film that wasn't even eligible for nomination.
"The joke makes no sense," Smith wrote.
Hollywood Rewarded Him Anyway
Think about what Kimmel actually did Sunday night.
He stood on a stage in front of a room full of people who despise Trump, cracked a joke about the First Lady that he already knew was factually wrong, and collected his applause anyway.
That's not a comedian being brave.
That's a man performing for an audience that will cheer anything as long as it has Trump's name attached to it.
Last September, ABC pulled him off the air after he used Charlie Kirk's assassination to smear MAGA supporters – claiming Kirk's killer was one of them, when prosecutors later confirmed the shooter had turned hard left.
He came back, offered a half-apology, and signed a contract extension through 2027.
No real consequence. So Sunday night happened.
Hollywood has spent years lecturing America about courage – about speaking truth to power, about taking real risks to tell important stories.
https://twitter.com/OKMagazine/status/2033922414560575681?s=20
Kimmel stood in front of that same crowd and punched at a First Lady who wasn't there to defend herself, in a room where everyone was guaranteed to cheer, using a joke built on a fact he knew was wrong.
Megyn Kelly – who has publicly disagreed with Trump on Iran – didn't hesitate for one second.
She called it disgusting. Because it was.
And because your 70-year-old uncle who spent 40 years working for a living already knows exactly what Jimmy Kimmel is – a man who thinks mocking your President makes him brave.
It doesn't. It makes him predictable. And Megyn Kelly was right to say so.
Sources:
- Hanna Panreck, "Jimmy Kimmel called out for Trump and Melania jokes at Oscars ceremony," Fox News, March 16, 2026.
- "Megyn Kelly Rebukes Jimmy Kimmel's 'Disgusting' Oscars Joke About Melania Trump: 'He Can't Help Himself,'" The Wrap, March 17, 2026.
- "Megyn Slams Unfunny Kimmel and Conan at the Oscars," MegynKelly.com, March 16, 2026.
- Steven Cheung, White House Communications Director, X post, March 16, 2026.
- "2025 Lookback: ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Briefly Suspended by Disney After Charlie Kirk Remarks," Yahoo News, December 24, 2025.
