Five late-night comedy hosts announced plans for a joint podcast, and got a live roast in return.
Comedians Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, and Seth Meyers – whose shows are on a forced sabbatical due to the ongoing writers and actors strike in Hollywood – announced plans for &#8220;Strike Force Five.&#8221; The joint effort is expected to last at least through the remainder of the strike and proceeds will go to support their staffers while they are out of work.
&#8220;MAJOR LIFE UPDATE &#8211; for the remainder of the strike @StephenAtHome, @JimmyFallon, @SethMeyers, @IamJohnOliver &amp; I are joining forces for a new podcast called @StrikeForceFive. Hear the first episode tomorrow 8/30. ALL proceeds (thanks to @Casamigos and @MintMobile) go to support our out of work staffs. Listen now — <a class="css-4rbku5 css-18t94o4 css-901oao css-16my406 r-1cvl2hr r-1loqt21 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" dir="ltr" role="link" href="https://t.co/qsyo28mYSV" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://bit.ly/44tflxq</a> @SpotifyPodcasts,&#8221; Kimmel shared via X. 

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MAJOR LIFE UPDATE &#8211; for the remainder of the strike <a href="https://twitter.com/StephenAtHome?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StephenAtHome</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/jimmyfallon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JimmyFallon</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/sethmeyers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SethMeyers</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/iamjohnoliver?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IamJohnOliver</a> &amp; I are joining forces for a new podcast called <a href="https://twitter.com/StrikeForceFive?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StrikeForceFive</a>. Hear the first episode tomorrow 8/30. ALL proceeds (thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/Casamigos?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Casamigos</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Mintmobile?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MintMobile</a>) go to support… <a href="https://t.co/Czyvlpmba2">pic.twitter.com/Czyvlpmba2</a>
&mdash; Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) <a href="https://twitter.com/jimmykimmel/status/1696612559661736081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Meyers <a href="https://twitter.com/sethmeyers/status/1696635013687558435" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> with a joke, saying, &#8220;I had NO idea this was being recorded &#8230;&#8221;
&#8220;Late night unite! Your new favorite podcast Strike Force Five premieres tomorrow with all of our proceeds going to staff and crew affected by the ongoing writers strike. Check it out on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts,&#8221; Fallon added.
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Late night unite! Your new favorite podcast Strike Force Five premieres tomorrow with all of our proceeds going to staff and crew affected by the ongoing writers strike. Check it out on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. <a href="https://t.co/PQVgLEiftN">pic.twitter.com/PQVgLEiftN</a>
&mdash; Jimmy Fallon (@jimmyfallon) <a href="https://twitter.com/jimmyfallon/status/1696637418454053235?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2023</a></blockquote>
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But critics weren&#8217;t so sure that anyone really needed them to come back.
&#8220;Five insufferable one-trick ponies doing a podcast to echo each other on Trump and DeSantis and anyone who doesn&#8217;t have a D next to their name. And if you forgot these guys haven&#8217;t been on the air for months, you&#8217;re not alone,&#8221; Joe Concha said in a post on X.
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Five insufferable one-trick ponies doing a podcast to echo each other on Trump and DeSantis and anyone who doesn&#39;t have a D next to their name. And if you forgot these guys haven&#39;t been on the air for months, you&#39;re not alone. <a href="https://t.co/RKsHu7RVEX">https://t.co/RKsHu7RVEX</a>
&mdash; Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeConchaTV/status/1696942807829627195?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Not a lawyer but pretty sure this podcast will violate the Geneva Conventions,&#8221; Grabien media founder Tom Elliott <a href="https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1696878030235328809" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
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&#8220;Can&#8217;t wait for the first episode about Trump&#8217;s mugshot and how bad the new strain of covid is,&#8221; @thefirstontv <a href="https://twitter.com/TheFirstonTV/status/1696903174177604080" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a>.
&#8220;It is super cringe that they coordinated to all sit in very &#8216;regular person&#8217; rooms, as though they don’t all have home offices that clearly illustrate their wealth and success. Just be you, you d*** phonies,&#8221; Noam Blum <a href="https://twitter.com/neontaster/status/1696867728512995349" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
&#8220;They have banished all the late night hosts to a podcast,&#8221; Ashley St. Clair posted. &#8220;Nature is healing.&#8221;
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they have banished all the late night hosts to a podcast
nature is healing <a href="https://t.co/t0uw4RUMqS">https://t.co/t0uw4RUMqS</a>
&mdash; Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) <a href="https://twitter.com/stclairashley/status/1696710363406872946?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Late night group therapy for libs actually becomes group therapy for libs,&#8221; Stephen L. Miller <a href="https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/1696636706961924120" target="_blank" rel="noopener">replied</a>.
&#8220;Breaking Points&#8221; cohost Saagar Enjeti took a slightly different approach, <a href="https://twitter.com/esaagar/status/1696629378992460262" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a>, &#8220;I am begging studio execs to cave so we can end this abomination.&#8221;

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon – Season 4

Late-Night Hosts Team Up To Pitch A Podcast, And All They Get Is A Live Roast

Celebrities

Hollywood

Jimmy Fallon

Jimmy Kimmel

John Oliver

Seth Meyers

Stephen Colbert

U.S.

No late-night shows, celebrity profiles or awards show gatherings. Major 2023 releases like “Dune 2” could be bumped to 2024, much like the fate of “Kraven the Hunter” and the “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” sequel.
The earth continues to spin, and most people have bigger issues on their minds. Inflation. Gas prices. Their nation turning into a banana republic in real time.
Dueling Hollywood strikes have shut down La La Land, and there’s little panic across the American heartland.
Does anyone outside of the Hollywood area code care?
Stars like <a href="https://people.com/billy-porter-has-to-sell-home-due-to-strike-7574247" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Billy Porter are downsizing</a> while audiences e-watch “The Office” to savor life in the pre-woke era. The writers put away their pens on May 2, with actors joining their strike on July 14. The Hollywood machinery ground to a halt, with only projects birthed outside the traditional gatekeepers moving forward.
Few predict a swift resolution to either strike, and even if the writers end their walkout first they’ll have no one to read their lines.
It’s hard to escape a palpable yawn to all of the above. 
Wait. Don’t audiences love celebrities, follow their every move and listen with rapt attention when they speak? Once upon a time, of course. And they still do, to an extent, but one side of this cultural bromance has been behaving too badly to keep the relationship afloat.
Part of the issue is pragmatic in nature.
Audiences have endless content to explore on a gaggle of streaming platforms, including free options like Pluto TV and Tubi. Video games have never been so sophisticated and engaging. YouTube shares killer podcasts, feisty comic sketches and original fare made for a fraction of what it might cost Hollywood, Inc. to produce.
Who needs the Food Network when you can watch Sam the Cooking Guy’s videos with slick production values and a fraction of the commercial load? Miss “Saturday Night Live?” Try sketches from Ryan Long, Kyle Dunnigan and J.P. Sears instead. They’re waiting for you at the click of a mouse, and they pack a better satirical bite than anything from the NBC showcase.
Much of the independent content being made is 100% woke-free. Another bonus.
Hollywood’s PR problem expands beyond those content alternatives.
The industry has been insulting large swathes of the public for some time now. The problem intensifies during election cycles, but the attacks never fully stop even after all the votes have been counted.
Both <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eSBl1JWIlI&amp;embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hollywoodintoto.com%2F&amp;feature=emb_title" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Conan O’Brien</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg0pO9VG1J8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC’s “Saturday Night Live”</a>’ compared President Donald Trump’s fans to Nazis in recent years. 
“Please watch our shows and movies. Oh, and by the way, we hate you and your political choices.” That’s just a microscopic look at a larger, more disturbing trend in Hollywood. 
The recent pandemic the bond between audience and artist even more tenuous.
We saw celebrity hypocrisy on full blast via events like the 2021 Met Gala where the stars roamed the halls sans masks while “the help” had <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9989583/Social-media-rages-hypocrtical-Met-Gala-listers-AOC-NOT-wearing-masks.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">their faces covered in cloth</a>. TV shows featured talk show hosts addressing fully masked audiences without a flicker of guilt or shame.
It got worse when some of those talkers <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/colbert-trump-coronavirus-protestors-985703/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attacked everyday Americans</a> for protesting what we now know were cruel, ineffective lockdowns that damaged their businesses.
Sometimes permanently.
Other stars slammed anyone who didn’t get their government-approved COVID-19 vaccine, ignoring factors like natural immunity and medical autonomy along the way.
<a href="https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/a/backwoodsaltar/howard-stern-tears-into-anti-vaxxers-fuck-their-freedom" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Howard Stern</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/opinion-those-who-say-screw-your-freedom-dont-understand-freedom" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Arnold Schwarzenegger</a> separately cursed America’s freedoms along the way. Only the “Terminator” star <a href="https://www.essentiallysports.com/us-sports-news-bodybuilding-news-years-after-screw-your-freedom-statement-arnold-schwarzenegger-issues-public-apology-im-sorry-for-saying-those-words/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">apologized for his words</a>. <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/09/08/jimmy-kimmel-says-unvaxxed-americans-dont-deserve-icu-beds/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jimmy Kimmel suggested</a> unvaccinated Americans shouldn’t be treated at local hospitals.
Was he kidding? Hard to tell given the rhetoric flowing from La La Land.
More discerning consumers read all about unvaccinated actors finding themselves unemployed. Broadway and TV actor Clifton Duncan <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNwyaE6b2IA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">left the business for that reason</a>, earning a new fan base by calling out the creative community’s draconian measures.
We still have plenty of rock-solid reasons to care about the dueling strikes. Most actors can barely make a living these days, working from gig to gig just to keep their finances afloat. For every Clooney, Streep, or Jordan there are hundreds of actors whose names we’ll never know hoping for their big break. Some may never get it.
This is doubly true for many Hollywood scribes who toil in near complete anonymity.
The current system should reflect the massive technological shifts happening behind Hollywood’s golden walls. Streamers also should be more transparent about how many people watch their shows … and share that information with the stars and scribes who make it all possible.
You can hate Hollywood’s political leanings and understand the system feels rigged or their collective fear over AI’s potential.
Plus, the studios are likely playing hardball while their executives enjoy lavish salaries and lifestyles.
Eventually, we will run low in fresh content and will crave something new beyond Michael Scott’s “Office” shenanigans.
Hollywood strikers have yet another PR problem on their hands. The culture feels a growing divide between the “elites” – the experts who share misinformation while blocking opposing views – and regular Americans who see celebrities as part of that exasperating group.
Hollywood&#8217;s combination of nasty politics and pandemic-era hate makes it darn near impossible to root for either side. 

Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="http://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News&#8217; Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@HollywoodInToto</a>. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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Other Unions Join Striking Writers For March Down Hollywood Blvd

Wake Us When The Hollywood Strikes Are Over

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Artificial Intelligence

Entertainment

Howard Stern

Readers Pass

strike

The late-night silence is deafening.
On May 2nd, the Writers Guild of America went on strike seeking better wages, higher residual rates, and protections against the looming threat of Artificial Intelligence, among related demands.
That meant screenwriters closed their laptops, taking the jokes out of the corporate comedians’ mouths. No more wisecracks Colbert, Kimmel, Oliver, or Maher. The late-night landscape went dark, and the lights won’t be back on anytime soon.
Will audiences greet their return like a favorite show’s new seasons? Or, will we see a faltering landscape crumble, plagued by incessant partisanship, relentless clapter, and a business model in obvious decline?
The latter may be more likely, even if the format continues in some capacity when the strike finally ends.
<div id="attachment_595329" style="width: 876px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-595329" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-595329" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1238883487-866x576.jpg" alt="DALLAS, TX - FEBRUARY 22: Fox News host Greg Gutfeld speaks during Fox News Channel's &quot;Gutfeld!&quot; Live In Dallas at Gilley's Dallas on February 22, 2022 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images)" width="866" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1238883487-866x576.jpg 866w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1238883487-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1238883487-768x511.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1238883487-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1238883487-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1238883487-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1238883487-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px" />Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images</div>
We’re certainly not seeing any desperate op-eds demanding the swift return of these late-night propagandists. Even the Left-leaning <a href="https://movieweb.com/when-will-late-night-tv-shows-come-back/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MovieWeb</a> perused the late-night-free environment and wondered if the public even missed it.
Had the work stoppage lasted a few weeks or even months we’d expect the show to go on, more or less as usual. The hosts might forgo any summer vacation plans to resume their high-paying gigs and reconnect with their dwindling fan base.
Except the WGA and the studio representatives remain far apart and you’d be hard-pressed to find an industry observer who sees a resolution lurking around the corner.
The news cycle moves on without their pre-packaged monologues, leaving folks like John Oliver wishing he could weigh in on the latest Trump indictment news and, conversely, ignore stories with the name “Hunter” attached. 
No one expected a swift resolution to the writers’ strike, and that was before the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) joined them on the picket lines earlier this month. That means even if the late-night shows were open for business, they’d have no one to grace their colorful couches.
The loss of late-night comedy struck a body blow against the mainstream media. Journalists loved regurgitating whatever Stephen Colbert said on a given night, assuming it tarred and/or feathered GOP favorites like Donald Trump or former Fox News superstar Tucker Carlson.
Reporters even assembled round-up stories on the latest late-night antics, purposely leaving out the one show that’s still cranking out new episodes — that’s “Gutfeld!,” the Fox News hit that recently abandoned the late shift for an earlier, 10 p.m. EST time slot.
<div id="attachment_595327" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-595327" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-595327" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1372231822-1-864x576.jpg" alt="DALLAS, TX - FEBRUARY 22: Fox News host Greg Gutfeld speaks during Fox News Channel's &quot;Gutfeld!&quot; Live In Dallas at Gilley's Dallas on February 22, 2022 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1372231822-1-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1372231822-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1372231822-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1372231822-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1372231822-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1372231822-1-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1372231822-1-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Omar Vega/Getty Images</div>
Another sign of the format’s eventual doom?
Late-night TV was in trouble before the dueling strikes. The Left-leaning Axios said the format was “<a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/04/28/late-night-tv-corden-ratings-decline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rapidly declining</a>” back in April, noting the recent loss of several key players.
Low ratings likely sunk TBS mainstay “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.” Trevor Noah up and left the basement-rated “Daily Show” over at Comedy Central, leaving the cable channel to uncork a rotating host schedule without finding the South African comic’s successor.
That search, like the show itself, is presumably on hold.
“Late Late Show” star James Corden also called it quits, abandoning a format that was setting <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/05/01/cbs-was-reportedly-losing-millions-on-james-cordens-late-night-show/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CBS back millions</a>. The network didn’t bother to find his replacement, opting to air a game show reboot in his place.
Late-night revenues were similarly down in recent months.
Axios reported ad revenue for the top six shows shrank more than 50% since 2014, and more than 60% from its highest point in 2016 (a heated presidential campaign year).
Does that sound like a healthy TV landscape?
Audiences are fickle. They may have watched their favorite late-night comedian for years, but now they’re left to find new bedtime rituals. That could mean social media surfing or sampling the various YouTube creators cranking out provocative, timely satire.
Comedians like liberal-leaning Jimmy Dore happily tear into President Joe Biden as well as Trump. Right-leaning comics, meanwhile, eviscerate the woke mind virus, among other progressive targets.
Any random sketch by Ryan Long is as funny, if not funnier, than whatever Jimmy Fallon uncorked from his “Tonight Show” perch.
There’s no lack of creative minds filling the gaps left behind by late-night taking an extended knee. And audiences can watch them at any time of the day if they crave late-night-style yuks.
The host of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” is still talking, but he’s doing it via his weekly “Club Random” podcast. The show eschews partisan banter for conversations across the ideological divide. Here’s betting he’s having more fun talking to the likes of Jordan Peterson than pretending “Real Time” guests like Rob Reiner make sense.
Some Jimmy Kimmel scribes have hit the road, packaging themselves together as a late-night stand-up tour to make ends meet during the strike. 
Kimmel himself is keeping a low profile this summer, except when he’s the target <a href="https://twitter.com/jimmykimmel/status/1673832917825626112" target="_blank" rel="noopener">of Twitter’s Community Notes fact-checking squad.</a> Colbert is mostly quiet on Twitter, too. It’s almost like his comic shtick is a job and he doesn’t feel compelled to weigh in on the latest headlines if there’s no paycheck attached.
Seth Meyers’ Twitter feed is similarly subdued.
Even late-night stalwarts seemed resigned to the new reality facing them when the strike finally ends.
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="http://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News&#8217; Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@HollywoodInToto</a>. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

New York City scenes

As Late-Night TV Goes Dark, Fans Wonder If The Format Will Ever Come Back

Greg Gutfeld

Television

The late night shows hosted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jimmy-kimmel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jimmy Kimmel</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/stephen-colbert" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stephen Colbert</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jimmy-fallon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jimmy Fallon</a>, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/seth-meyers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seth Meyers</a> will cease production on Tuesday as a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/labor-unions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">union</a> of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hollywood" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hollywood</a> screenwriters initiates a strike.
Members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) <a href="https://www.wgacontract2023.org/updates/strike-authorization-vote-results" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted</a> overwhelmingly earlier this year to authorize a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/screenwriter-strike-could-grind-hollywood-to-a-halt-this-week-heres-which-shows-could-be-hit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strike</a> if the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a trade association that represents more than 350 studios, did not approve a new <a href="https://www.wgacontract2023.org/the-campaign/pattern-of-demands" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contract</a> with increased minimum compensation and larger contributions to pension and health plans. Union members are <a href="https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike/strike-rules" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prohibited</a> from working on their shows as of Tuesday.
“Though our negotiating committee began this process intent on making a fair deal, the studios’ responses have been wholly insufficient given the existential crisis writers are facing,” WGA <a href="https://twitter.com/WGAWest/status/1653242480106815491" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on social media, noting that six weeks of deliberations with firms such as Netflix, Amazon, Sony, and Disney under the AMPTP umbrella ultimately failed to produce a new contract.
Colbert was scheduled to host Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Chita Rivera on Tuesday, while celebrities such as Chris Hayes and Michael J. Fox were scheduled to appear later in the week, according to a <a href="https://deadline.com/2023/05/writers-strike-late-night-shows-to-shut-down-immediately-1235352054/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Deadline. Fallon was supposed to welcome Ken Jeong, Jennifer Lopez, and JJ Watt this week, while Kimmel was slated to host Dr. Phil and Ricky Gervais. The shows are instead expected to air reruns on Tuesday.
Production for shows such as “Real Time With Bill Maher,” “Saturday Night Live,” and “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” is also expected to cease this week, according to a WGA <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-04-20/writers-guild-warns-analysts-investors-may-2-strike-means-no-late-night-shows-delay-fall-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> recently obtained by The Los Angeles Times. The document noted that production delays could inhibit the ability of Disney, Paramount Global, and Comcast NBCUniversal to produce episodes for the fall network television season, while streaming platforms carrying broadcast shows would likewise be impacted.
Meyers said on his Monday show that he supports the strike and wants his writers to receive higher pay.
“No one is entitled to a job in show business. But for those people who have a job, they are entitled to fair compensation,” he said, as recorded by Deadline. “They are entitled to make a living. I think it’s a very reasonable demand that’s being set out by the Guild. And I support those demands.”
Kimmel and Colbert were impacted by a similar strike between 2007 and 2008, when WGA members picketed for three months as a result of failed contract negotiations, causing production delays and shortened seasons for multiple studios.
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The current strike occurs as the shift toward streaming contributes to diminished profits in television and cinema. WGA officials also cited the advent of artificial intelligence as a possible mechanism to increase work capacity for screenwriters, a phenomenon which could enable studios to decrease their headcounts and thereby provoked calls from the union to regulate material produced with the technology.
The union previously <a href="https://www.wgacontract2023.org/updates/bulletins/writers-are-not-keeping-up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that firms have “used the transition to streaming to cut writer pay and separate writing from production, worsening working conditions for series writers at all levels.” The share of writers working at the minimum <a href="https://www.wga.org/news-events/news/connect/10-3-22/animation-writers-have-been-paying-the-price-for-studio-greed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">standards</a> established by the most recent WGA contract has risen substantially in recent years, producing a 23% median compensation decline when adjusted for inflation, even as series budgets increase.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon Late Night Shows Immediately Halt Due To Screenwriter Strike

Late Night Shows Immediately Halt Production Due To Screenwriter Strike

Bill Maher

Economy

Labor Unions

Actor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/chris-pratt">Chris Pratt</a> said during a recent interview that he was rejected from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/marvel">Marvel</a> movies so many times that he almost gave up on them.
The 43-year-old <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/entertainment">celebrity</a> said on a recent episode of &#8220;Jimmy Kimmel Live!&#8221; that he &#8220;auditioned for Thor, but not even to be Thor – but to be one of the sidekick guys, and I didn’t get a callback.&#8221;
&#8220;Usually they give you a little bit of feedback, and I remember the casting director goes, ‘Wow. You really made a big choice there.’ Which is code for like, ‘Hey, dial back the acting there, guy,’&#8221; Pratt said of the experience.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Chris Pratt on Dropping Marvel’s First F-Bomb, His Stripper Audition &amp; Stealing from Set" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qx3mYetIV9s?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
He said being rejected so much made him reach “the point where I was never gonna audition for Marvel again.&#8221;
&#8220;I was like, &#8216;This is stupid, I’m never gonna be in a Marvel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/movies">movie</a>,'&#8221; Pratt told Kimmel. The actor said he started auditioning for &#8220;anything that came out that needed a guy that even remotely looked like me.&#8221;
&#8220;I would either submit a tape and they would say &#8216;No, we don’t need to see him,&#8217; or I would get there and see them, they’d go, &#8216;No, that’s the last time we need to see you,'&#8221; he said. Pratt said he must not have had the “it factor” casting agents wanted because they never asked him to come back.
The “Parks and Recreation” alum was later cast in &#8220;Guardians of the Galaxy&#8221; (2014) as Star-Lord. Now, Pratt is looking forward to the release of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” on May 5.
The actor’s father-in-law, former California Republican governor and Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, already posted a glowing review of the new superhero film.
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&#8220;I saw #GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3 last night and WOW. @prattprattpratt, you crushed it,&#8221; Schwarzenegger shared in a <a href="https://twitter.com/Schwarzenegger/status/1652078259696439296">tweet</a> Friday. &#8220;A non-stop, perfect mix of comedy and action. I loved it and I’m very, very proud of you.&#8221; 
Pratt is still riding high on the success of his most recent smash hit, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” The actor voices Mario in the animated film, which recently surpassed $1 billion in revenue at the worldwide box office.

Chris Pratt

Chris Pratt Talks Getting Rejected: ‘Was Never Gonna Audition For Marvel Again’

Chris Pratt Talks Getting Rejected: 'Was Never Gonna Audition For Marvel Again'

Marvel

Just over three months after the horrific snow plow accident that nearly killed him, &#8220;Hawkeye&#8221; actor Jeremy Renner revealed one of the more grotesque injuries he sustained that day.
Renner, walking with a cane but under his own power, made an appearance Monday on &#8220;Jimmy Kimmel Live!&#8221; to discuss both his ongoing recovery and his new Disney+ show &#8220;Rennervations.&#8221;
Host Jimmy Kimmel introduced the &#8220;Hurt Locker&#8221; star as an &#8220;Avenger who beat Thanos, Loki, and a 14,000 lb snow plow,&#8221; referring to Renner as &#8220;indestructible&#8221; — and the studio audience responded by giving the actor a standing ovation.
Renner described the accident to Kimmel and the audience, saying, &#8220;It [was like being under] a giant metal cookie roller &#8230; It just missed every vertebrae, did not hit any organs. My brain did not swell.&#8221;
&#8220;My eye did pop out. That’s weird,&#8221; Renner continued, adding, &#8220;But I got pretty lucky that none of the organs got messed up.&#8221;
The actor was airlifted from his home near Reno, Nevada, after being almost completely crushed by the massive snowplow — and he explained during a recent interview with veteran journalist Diane Sawyer that he had spent some of his early moments in the hospital writing what he thought might be his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hawkeye-star-wrote-his-last-words-to-family-in-the-hospital-just-in-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener">last words</a> to his family.
&#8220;If I was there on my own, that would have been a horrible way to die. And surely I would have. Surely. But I wasn’t alone. It was my nephew. Sweet Alex. And the rest of the cavalry came,&#8221; Renner said. &#8220;So I’m writing down notes in my phone … last words to my family.&#8221;
Despite the massive trauma, the many broken bones, and the long road to recovery, Renner also told Sawyer that he would absolutely <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/id-do-it-again-jeremy-renner-gives-first-interview-since-near-fatal-accident" target="_blank" rel="noopener">do it again</a> if the situation arose.
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&#8220;I’d do it again. Because it was going right at my nephew,&#8221; Renner said. He also admitted that he didn&#8217;t know quite what to expect in the early days of his injury: &#8220;I’m thinking, what does my body look like? Am I just going to be like a spine and a brain, like a science experiment?&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Jeremy Renner on Snowplow Accident, Getting Kicked Out of the ICU &amp; Get Well “Cameo” from Paul Rudd" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/I40vhkFXCA4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Marvel Studios’ Los Angeles Premiere Of “Hawkeye” – Arrivals

‘That’s Weird’: Jeremy Renner Reveals One Of His More Grotesque Injuries From Snow Plow Accident

Jeremy Renner Reveals One Of His More Grotesque Injuries From Snow Plow Accident

Jeremy Renner

Snow

Just 10 years ago, the annual <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/oscars" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Academy Awards</a> show drew 40.3 million viewers.
Since then, it&#8217;s been plunging nearly every year: 34.4 million in 2016, 23.6 million in 2020; and now, in 2023, 18.7 <a href="https://deadline.com/2023/03/2023-oscar-viewership-ratings-academy-awards-abc-everything-everywhere-all-at-once-1235298046/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">million</a>.
That was a 12% jump from 2022, when the show drew 16.6 million. Apparently everyone was tuning in to see if Meryl Streep would slap Dame Judy Dench.
That, and that alone, would have given the show some pep. But instead, the show dragged on and on, nearly four hours (3:40), led by the drabbiest of all possible hosts, Jimmy Kimmel (the show no longer seems able to pull an A-list host).
With that, two things are clear: Few people in America want to watch the Oscars &#8212; and the limousine liberals in Hollywood couldn&#8217;t care less. In fact, it seems as if the tone-deaf celebrities in Tinseltown are actually trying to drive away viewers as they laud each other for their little-watched movies.
Kimmel had an entire year to write some funny jokes about &#8220;The Slap Heard &#8216;Round The World.&#8221; Just last week, comedian Chris Rock closed out his live Netflix special with a fiery blast of actor Will Smith.
Here&#8217;s what Kimmel came up with: &#8220;We want you to have fun. We want you to feel safe. Most importantly, we want me to feel safe,&#8221; he told the star-studded audience.
&#8220;So we have strict policies in place: If anyone in this theater commits an act of violence at any point during the show, you will be awarded the Oscar for best actor, and permitted to give a 19-minute long speech,&#8221; he said.
Not exactly Rock-level material. In fact, you&#8217;d be more likely to hear that caliber of comedy at the local Chuckle Hut.
The opening was also beyond safe &#8212; nothing like what Ricky Gervais has done at the Golden Globes. In those classic shows, the British comedian takes down the Hollywood elite, mocking them for their oversized egos.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Ricky Gervais roasts Hollywood at the 2020 Golden Globes | The Washington Post" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3vuT8ki9yM4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Instead, Kimmel just went around the room naming celebrities and delivering a lame joke that drew little laughter (some bombed outright). &#8220;You know a show is too long when even James Cameron can&#8217;t sit through it.&#8221; Oof.
Kimmel noted that the show would feature &#8220;diversity and inclusion.&#8221; That&#8217;s something every viewer wants &#8212; don&#8217;t give us the best movies of the year, just make sure some people who wouldn&#8217;t normally get a nomination get chosen.
&#8220;There will be no nonsense tonight, we have no time for shenanigans,&#8221; Kimmel said. &#8220;This is a celebration of everyone here. You told us you wanted all the categories back in, and we listened. They&#8217;re all back in.&#8221;
That&#8217;s 23 categories. Twenty-three! Half of them are movies you&#8217;ve not only never seen, but never heard of &#8212; and almost completely unavailable to watch.
&#8220;We put all the categories back in because the movie community wanted it, almost as much as the television community didn&#8217;t want it,&#8221; Kimmel said. &#8220;So no complaining about how long the show is.&#8221;
And there you have it. The Academy could not care less if you watch the awards or even see the winning movies. The show is all about them, and they&#8217;re artists, so you&#8217;ll never understand.
In five years, it&#8217;ll be the 100th Oscars. And by then, the show might have just 187 viewers. But Hollywood doesn&#8217;t care a whit.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to josephcurl@dailywire.com and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

95th Academy Awards – Show

It’s Clear Now: The Oscars Don’t Even Want Us To Watch The Awards

 It's Clear Now: The Oscars Don't Even Want Us To Watch The Awards

Oscars

The 95th Annual Academy Awards was bound to be less dramatic than last year’s show no matter what happened.
The Academy caught heat for failing to react quickly enough when Will Smith strode onstage and assaulted show host Chris Rock last year, making it so they played things extra safe in 2023. Some say the Oscars were a little too cautious, or to phrase it another way, even more boring than usual. That meant cutting down on the political rhetoric that’s become so predictable at every awards show.
But despite host Jimmy Kimmel attempting to make non-offensive jokes, there were still moments during the Oscars which fully displayed the ingrained leftist leanings of the Hollywood community. Did conservatives expect anything else?
<h2>1. “Everything Everywhere All At Once” director defends drag queens</h2>
The night’s big winner was the sci-fi indie flick “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” a totally out-of-the-box project about a Chinese-American immigrant (Michelle Yeoh) who must connect with parallel universe versions of herself to prevent the destruction of the multiverse. The film won seven Oscars including Best Picture.
The movie’s co-director Daniel Scheinert used his Oscars acceptance speech to defend people who dress in drag, including kids. “We want to dedicate this to the mommies, all the mommies in the world, to our moms,” Scheinert said.
“Specifically my mom and dad … thank you for not squashing my creativity when I was making really disturbing horror films, or really perverted comedy films, or dressing in drag as a kid, which is a threat to nobody!” he said, likely referencing recent legislation some states introduced that would prohibit sexually explicit drag performances in front of children.
<h2>2. &#8220;Top Gun: Maverick” snubbed</h2>
No one expected the enormously successful sequel “Top Gun: Maverick” to win an Academy Award, which probably explains why Tom Cruise decided to skip the ceremony completely. Fans marveled that this pro-America, pro-masculinity movie was even nominated in the first place.
MSNBC opinion writer and editor Zeeshan Aleem summed up the feelings of most leftists about “Top Gun” as part of a weekend column. In it, the writer called this blockbuster film’s message “insidious,” “poisonous,” and “literal propaganda.” 
“I hope it tanks at the Oscars,” Aleem concluded. “It’s possible to make thrilling action without so brazenly priming the public for warfare.”
“Maverick” didn’t win any awards despite being adored by fans and raking in more than $1.4 billion worldwide. Even Kimmel made a few jokes about how the movie “saved” Hollywood by getting people to go back to movie theaters again.
The film won for “Best Sound” but lost in all the other six categories it was nominated in.
<h2>3. Jimmy Kimmel adds a January 6 dig</h2>
Considering how liberals can’t go more than 15 minutes without discussing January 6, it should come as no surprise that the evening’s host couldn’t restrain himself from making a joke about it.
While introducing the film editing category, Kimmel added a joke about Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
&#8220;Anyone who’s ever received a text message from their father knows how important editing is,” the late-night host joked. “Editors do amazing things,” he continued. “Edits can turn 44,000 hours of violent insurrection footage into a respectful sight-seeing tour of the Capitol.”
<h2>4. Feminism gets a shout out during a “Women Talking” speech</h2>
In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, “Women Talking” director Sarah Polley added a little dig to her acceptance speech for “Best Adapted Screenplay.” 
&#8220;First of all, I just want to thank the Academy for not being mortally offended by the words &#8216;women&#8217; and &#8216;talking&#8217; put so close together like that,&#8221; Polley said. She ended her speech by addressing her children, saying, “Your story will be different from ours.&#8221;
Polley adapted “Women Talking” from the 2018 novel by the same name. The story, which was written by Miriam Toews, is about a group of Mennonite women who must decide whether to stay in or leave their community following widespread sexual assault. 
<h2>5. Kimmel jokes about Hunter Biden</h2>
At least leftists aren’t calling the laptop story fake anymore.
During his opening monologue, Kimmel quipped that “The Fabelmans” director Steven Spielberg and actor Seth Rogen were the “Joe and Hunter Biden of Hollywood.” That joke got a huge round of applause from the star-studded audience.
<h2>6. George Santos becomes the butt of a joke</h2>
Another political joke of the evening was at the expense of Congressman George Santos (R-NY), who became a public disgrace after admitting to being a “terrible liar.” It was revealed that he lied about being Jewish plus his education, employment, charity work, and that his mother died on 9/11.
“Did you know … the last directing team to win an Oscar was Congressman George Santos?” Kimmel quipped at one point in the evening.
<h2>Bonus: Michelle Yeoh takes a dig at Don Lemon</h2>
Oscar Award winner Michelle Yeoh, who took home the night’s top prize for Best Actress, made a not-so-subtle reference to notorious left-leaning CNN host Don Lemon’s comment about presidential hopeful Nikki Haley (R) being “past her prime.”
Yeoh made history as the first Asian person to win an Academy Award.
“For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities,” the 60-year-old star said.
“This is proof that dreams, dream big, and dreams do come true. And ladies, don’t ever let anyone tell you you are ever past your prime. Never give up!”

Clapperboard

6 Woke Moments From The Academy Awards

Feminism

Movies

Top Gun

Transgender

Woke Culture

Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel was bashed by fans of the show who felt his flippant behavior toward a Nobel peace prize winner who had been shot by the Taliban was disrespectful.
Kimmel approached Taliban shooting survivor Malala Yousafzai, whose documentary, “Stranger At The Gate,” was nominated for an Oscar. Malala was only 15 years old when she was shot after being hunted down by the Taliban in Pakistan.
During a break in the show, Kimmel, 55, went to Malala, now 25, and asked her a question from a fan, stating, “She asked, your work on human rights and education for women and children is an inspiration–as the youngest Nobel prize winner in history, do you think Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine?”
Malala, looking uncomfortable, responded, “I only talk about peace.”
Following that interchange an attendee dressed as a real-life “Cocaine Bear” crawled down the aisle and started harassing Malala, prompting Kimmel to say, “Cocaine bear, leave Malala alone!”
Malala was shot in the head in 2012 because she defied the ban on attending school implemented for women by the Pakistani Taliban. The attack was ordered by the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Maulana Fazlullah.
“I spoke out publicly on behalf of girls and our right to learn. And this made me a target,” Malala has <a href="https://malala.org/malalas-story">recalled</a>. “In October 2012, on my way home from school, a masked gunman boarded my school bus and asked, ‘Who is Malala?&#8217; He shot me on the left side of my head. I woke up 10 days later in a hospital in Birmingham, England.”
In March 2018, the Trump Administration <a href="http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/us-offers-us5m-reward-for-pakistan-taliban-leader">offered</a> $5 million for information leading to the identification or location of Fazlullah, the head of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militant group (TTP).  Fazlullah had been linked to the 2010 attempted Times Square car bombing in New York, but his most evil acts had come against children, including the order to massacre 132 of them at a Peshawar school in December 2014. As the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/11306125/Mullah-Radio-terrorist-demagogue-behind-the-savagery-of-Peshawar.html">Telegraph</a> reported:
<blockquote>
Seven Taliban gunmen stormed into the Peshawar’ school, shooting and bombing children, killing 132 of them in their classrooms and the school auditorium. They also burned teachers alive in front of their pupils. The headmistress, Tahira Qazi, was blown up with a hand grenade as she cowered in a bathroom.
</blockquote>
Fans bashed Kimmel with <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11852891/Jimmy-Kimmel-branded-national-disgrace-harassing-Malala-Yousafzai-2023-Oscars.html">comments</a> such as these:
<blockquote>
“jimmy kimmel is a national disgrace. this woman deserves better.”
“I hope Jimmy Kimmel pays for making Malala answer that question. She deserves better than that!”
“&#8217;Watching the #Oscars from home, I was absolutely horrified with the interaction between @jimmykimmel and @Malala Jimmy, you were incredibly disrespectful.”
“I love @jimmykimmel but his interaction with Malala was one of the worst and most painful things I&#8217;ve seen on TV in so many years.”
“why did jimmy kimmel and the cocaine bear just harass malala oh my god leave her alone.”
“Malala looked so uncomfortable when jimmy kimmel was harassing her with his comedy.”
“Malala has a nobel peace prize and they have her dealing with cocaine bear and jimmy kimmel.”
</blockquote>
Malala responded to the video of her interaction with Kimmel by simply tweeting, “Treat people with kindness.”

95th Annual Academy Awards – Show

‘Jimmy Kimmel Is A National Disgrace’: Oscars Host Bashed For Treatment Of Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Oscars Host Bashed For Treatment Of Nobel Peace Prize Winner 

Malala Yousafzai

Nobel Peace Prize

Chris Rock’s 2022 hosting stint at the Oscars got an obscene amount of attention at the time, and now it’s being talked about all over again as the comedian is finally cracking jokes about it. But Rock fans surely remember that this isn’t the first time Rock was involved with drama and controversy while hosting Hollywood’s biggest night.
Besides some vague references to Oscar winner Will Smith storming onto the stage to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-academy-admits-its-response-to-will-smiths-oscars-slap-was-inadequate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slap him</a>, Rock hadn’t really dug into the incident until right now. His Netflix special “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chris-rock-torches-wokeness-meghan-markle-and-will-smith-in-netflix-special-dont-fall-into-the-woke-trap" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Selective Outrage</a>” debuted on March 4, just over a week before the 95th Annual Academy Awards premiere. It’s hard to believe that this timing wasn’t intentional.
“Anybody that says that words hurt has never been punched in the face,” Rock said during the performance as the audience laughed. “Words hurt when you write them on a brick.”
The 58-year-old celebrity also talked in-depth about the slap and Smith’s motivation behind it. Smith was reacting to Rock joking about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head. Rock saying, “Jada, I love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can&#8217;t wait to see it” was enough to make Will jump out of his seat and slap Rock while repeating, “Keep my wife&#8217;s name out of your f***ing mouth!&#8221;
This could be seen as an example of an overprotective spouse. But Rock insists that Will’s reaction was more about the Smith’s complicated relationship. The pair have been open about Jada’s infidelity. She even interviewed her husband during an episode of her talk show “Red Table Talk” and had him confront his feelings about these “entanglements” publicly.
“Will Smith practices selective outrage because everyone that knows what happened, everybody that really knows, knows I had nothing to do with that s***. I didn’t have any entanglements,” Rock says during the stand-up special “His wife was f***ing her son’s friend.”
“Now I normally wouldn’t talk about this s***,” Rock continued. “But for some reason these n****** put that s*** on the internet. I have no idea why two talented people would do something that f***ing low down.” he said.
“We’ve all been cheated on, everybody in here has been cheated on. None of us have been interviewed by the person that cheated on us on television&#8230;&#8221;
Fans will likely remember that 2022 was not Rock’s first time hosting the Academy Awards. The Emmy Award-winning actor first hosted in 2005 and while the drama then wasn’t as big as “slapgate,” there was a bit of controversy that time, too.
Rock came under fire for mocking the ceremony before he even took the stage.
&#8220;Come on, it&#8217;s a fashion show,&#8221; the comedian <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130923063025/http://www.smh.com.au/news/Oscars-2005/Chris-Rock-Oscars-host-slams-Oscars/2005/02/16/1108500124826.html">told</a> Entertainment Weekly ahead of the broadcast that year. &#8220;What straight black man sits there and watches the Oscars? Show me one. And they don&#8217;t recognize comedy, and you don&#8217;t see a lot of black people nominated, so why should I watch it?&#8221;
While onstage, Rock joked about Jude Law being a second-rate Tom Cruise, which earned him a scolding from Sean Penn. The actor admonished Rock, saying, &#8220;Forgive my compromised sense of humor but I did want to answer our host’s question about who Jude Law is. He’s one of our finest actors.”
Despite these minor incidents, Rock was invited back to host in 2016. The comedian was asked to boycott the Academy Awards in protest of the fact that no black actors were nominated that year, but he declined. The “Saturday Night Live” alum did address racism during his time onstage, however. 
“Is Hollywood racist?” he said <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/feb/29/chris-rock-at-the-oscars-youre-damn-right-hollywoods-racist">during the presentation</a>. “You’re damn right Hollywood’s racist.” Rock explained his belief that the industry was not “burning cross racist &#8230; it’s a different type of racist.”
Rock went on to say that the people he’s talking about, “don’t hire black people and they’re the nicest white people on earth; they’re liberals.”
He said their form of racist behavior is “sorority racist, like ‘We like you, Ronda, but you’re not a Kappa.’”
In a rare moment of foreshadowing, Rock also mocked Will and Jada Pinkett Smith for skipping the 2016 ceremony.
“Jada got mad, she said she’s not coming. Doesn’t she have a TV show? Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties – I wasn’t invited!” he quipped, adding, “You get mad that Will was this good and didn’t get nominated” [for his role in ‘Concussion’]. “It’s also not fair that Will was paid $20 million to do ‘Wild Wild West.’”
He also mentioned the calls to boycott. 
“‘Chris, you should boycott, you should quit’ – how come it’s always unemployed people that tell you to quit something?” Rock said. “I thought about it really hard but they’re not going to cancel the Oscars because I quit, and the last thing I need is to lose another job to Kevin Hart.”
Rock ended the speech by saying, “black lives matter” while raising his fist.
It’s unclear if the “Death at a Funeral” star will ever be asked to host the Academy Awards again. But this year’s host Jimmy Kimmel, who is also taking the stage for the third time, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jimmy-kimmel-reveals-how-hell-handle-another-slap-if-it-happens-when-hes-hosting-oscars" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently discussed</a> what he plans to do if anyone assaults him during the presentation.
When asked how he’d handle a slap, Kimmel <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/jimmy-kimmel-oscars-hosting-slap-1235340569/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Hollywood Reporter, “Well, I size them up, and, if I’m bigger than they are, I beat the s*** out of them on television. And if it’s the Rock, I run.”

TOPSHOT-US-ENTERTAINMENT-FILM-OSCARS-SHOW

Chris Rock Faced Oscars Hosting Controversies Long Before The Slap

Chris Rock

Netflix

Will Smith

Jimmy Kimmel revealed how he would handle things on Sunday as the host of the 95th Academy Awards if someone were to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/will-smith-struck-chris-rock-in-the-face-at-oscars-after-he-cracked-a-joke-about-jada-pinkett-smiths-hair-loss">slap him in the face,</a> like when actor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/will-smith">Will Smith</a> struck host <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/chris-rock">Chris Rock</a> during last year&#8217;s ceremony.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jimmy-kimmel">55-year-old</a> late-night host told <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/jimmy-kimmel-oscars-hosting-slap-1235340569/">The Hollywood Reporter</a> that he might react differently than Rock did in 2022, depending on who is coming at him.
&#8220;You mean, if somebody comes up on the stage and slaps me?&#8221; the host asked. &#8220;Well, I size them up, and, if I’m bigger than they are, I beat the s*** out of them on television. And if it’s the Rock, I run.&#8221;
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We landed 🛩 on <a href="https://twitter.com/jimmykimmel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jimmykimmel</a> to host The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oscars</a> this Sunday, and third time&#39;s the charm! 👏 Watch live at 8e/5p on ABC. <a href="https://t.co/BPEbIoVx6K">pic.twitter.com/BPEbIoVx6K</a>
&mdash; ABC (@ABCNetwork) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABCNetwork/status/1632652239260057601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2023</a></blockquote>
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He also acknowledged that his opening monologue would &#8220;have to be great&#8230;because so much has been said and there&#8217;s so much focus on&#8221; last year&#8217;s controversy.
&#8220;I obviously don&#8217;t want to make the whole monologue about that, but it would be ridiculous not to mention it,&#8221; said Kimmel.
At one point, he also said he couldn&#8217;t really worry about the ratings because &#8220;it&#8217;s not something&#8221; he really has any control over.
&#8220;We&#8217;re excited that there are movies [nominated that] people have seen, so we&#8217;re hoping more people watch, but who the hell knows?&#8221; the host replied. &#8220;There&#8217;s a lot of focus put on the ratings of these award shows and it&#8217;s used as a gauge in some ways, but it has almost nothing to do with the award shows themselves and everything to do with television viewing habits in general.&#8221;
This year&#8217;s show will be the &#8220;Jimmy Kimmel Live&#8221; host&#8217;s third time emceeing the Oscars after first getting the job in 2017 and again in 2019.
&#8220;It&#8217;s so important to have a host who knows how to handle live television and a live audience,&#8221; Academy CEO Bill Kramer noted recently about Kimmel. &#8220;He&#8217;s funny, he&#8217;s respectful, his edges aren&#8217;t too sharp.&#8221;
The 95th Academy Awards take place on Sunday, March 12, at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. It will be broadcast on ABC at 8e/5p.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kimmel-slams-aaron-rodgers-as-tin-foil-hatter-over-wanting-to-see-epstein-client-list-teammate-defends-him">Kimmel Slams Aaron Rodgers As &#8216;Tin-Foil&#8217; Hatter Over Wanting To See Epstein Client List, Teammate Defends Him</a>

2018 Disney/ABC/Freeform Upfront

Jimmy Kimmel Reveals How He’ll Handle Another Slap If It Happens When He’s Hosting Oscars

Jimmy Kimmel Reveals How He'll Handle Another Slap If It Happens When He's Hosting Oscars

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jimmy-kimmel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jimmy Kimmel</a> slammed Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Wednesday as a &#8220;tin foil hatter&#8221; for wanting to see Jeffrey Epstein&#8217;s client list — but Rodgers’ teammate David Bakhtiari defended him.
During &#8220;Jimmy Kimmel Live!&#8221; on Wednesday, the host reacted to video of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/aaron-rodgers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rodgers</a> either suggesting or possibly joking that all the flying objects that were recently shot down are simply a distraction from the upcoming release of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/names-of-alleged-jeffrey-epstein-associates-perpetrators-to-be-revealed-through-unsealed-docs-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deceased sex offender&#8217;s client list</a>.
&#8220;Needless to say, all this UFO talk has the tin foil hatters going wild, including wack-Packer Aaron Rodgers who offered this hot take on &#8216;The Pat McAfee Show,’” Kimmel explained before he threw to a clip of Rodgers’ comments.
WATCH:
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Jimmy Kimmel claims Aaron Rodgers is a “tin foil hatter” for wanting to know the names on the Jeffrey Epstein client list. <a href="https://t.co/fZtiULosEM">pic.twitter.com/fZtiULosEM</a>
&mdash; Mythinformed MKE (@MythinformedMKE) <a href="https://twitter.com/MythinformedMKE/status/1631418882693971971?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 2, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I believe that this has been going on for a long time,&#8221; Rodgers explained. &#8220;Interesting timing on everything. There&#8217;s a lot of other things going on in the world. … Did you hear about the Epstein client list about to be released, too?&#8221;
&#8220;There&#8217;s some files that have some names on it that might be getting released pretty soon,&#8221; he added.
The host came back on camera and suggested that it &#8220;might be time to revisit that concussion protocol, Aaron.”
David Bakhtiari, left tackle for the Packers, caught wind of Kimmel&#8217;s monologue attacking his QB and hit back, suggesting it was the ABC late-night host who was possibly on the list.
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Tell me you’re on the Jeffrey Epstein client list, without telling me you’re on the Jeffrey Epstein client list…. <a href="https://t.co/jWkL8LfOMT">https://t.co/jWkL8LfOMT</a>
&mdash; David Bakhtiari (@DavidBakhtiari) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidBakhtiari/status/1631647886332100610?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Tell me you&#8217;re on the Jeffrey Epstein client list, without telling me you&#8217;re on the Jeffrey Epstein client list…&#8221; Bakhtiari <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidBakhtiari/status/1631647886332100610?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>.
Kimmel previously labeled the Packers QB a &#8220;Karen&#8221; over his stance regarding the COVID vaccine, the <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/03/03/david-bakhtiari-blasts-jimmy-kimmel-for-aaron-rodgers-rip-job/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Post</a> noted.
&#8220;Honestly, the only thing worse than not getting vaccinated when you&#8217;re in close contact with other people is letting them think you&#8217;re vaccinated when you&#8217;re not,&#8221; Kimmel shared at the time. &#8220;It&#8217;s basically the COVID equivalent of &#8216;the condom fell off.&#8217; Aaron is a Karen, that&#8217;s the fact of the matter.&#8221;
Rodgers made headlines in 2021 when he was accused of misleading comments about his vaccination status, saying he was &#8220;immunized.&#8221; However, it was later revealed that he had not been vaccinated.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/aaron-rodgers-says-hes-been-cast-as-the-villain-over-covid-stance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aaron Rodgers Says He&#8217;s &#8216;Been Cast As The Villain&#8217; Over COVID Stance</a>

Jimmy Kimmel_Aaron Rodgers

Kimmel Slams Aaron Rodgers As ‘Tin-Foil’ Hatter Over Wanting To See Epstein Client List, Teammate Defends Him

Kimmel Slams Aaron Rodgers As 'Tin-Foil' Hatter Over Wanting To See Epstein Client List, Teammate Defends Him

Aaron Rodgers

Green Bay Packers

Jeffrey Epstein

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