As the host of next year’s Oscars, Jimmy Kimmel told Extra he won’t be shying away from addressing Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at this year’s event.
“It's got to come up in some way,” he told the outlet. “You know, I don't want to really make light of it necessarily, because it wasn't light to comedians. You know, comedians are mad about it… It's like, it's one of those things that for a group of people that find everything funny, it's, like, not funny, you know?”
This will mark Kimmel’s third time hosting the award show. “But of course… when they read the wrong winner one year when I hosted the Oscars, we had to make mention of that the next year,” he said.
Meanwhile, 2022 Oscars co-host Regina Hall spoke with Entertainment Tonight about Kimmel hosting in 2023. “I think it's really a bad idea. No, I'm joking,” she said. The Girls Trip actress added, “We'll make sure Jimmy's got something on so he don't get injured onstage and nobody comes up out the audience. But I think it's gonna be a fun show and he's tried and true, so I'm excited to see what he's gonna do.”
