Jimmy Kimmel kicked off the 90th annual Academy Awards with an opening monologue addressing many things, including Harvey Weinstein and the many accusations of misconduct and harassment in Hollywood over the last year.
In his monologue, Jimmy said of Weinstein's expulsion from The Academy, "The Academy, as you are no doubt aware, took action last year to expel Harvey Weinstein from their ranks. There were a lot of great nominees, but Harvey deserved it the most."
Jimmy continued by revealing the only other person to have received the same punishment for something completely unrelated to harassment. He said, "The Academy kicked him out and after they did, I was curious, so, I looked it up. You know the only other person to be expelled from the Academy, ever, was a character actor. He was kicked out for sharing screeners. He got the same punishment as Harvey Weinstein for giving his neighbor a copy of Seabiscuit on VHS."
Turning back to a serious note, Kimmel said, "But what happened with Harvey, what's happening all over was long overdue. We can't let bad behavior slide anymore. The world is watching us. We need to set an example."
Jimmy also mentioned movements in Hollywood like Time's Up and #MeToo. The late night host explained, "Over the course of this evening, I hope you will listen to many brave and outspoken supporters of movements like MeToo and Time's Up and #NeverAgain, because what they're doing is important. Things are changing for the better, they're making sure of that. It is positive change. This is a night for positivity and our plan is to shine a light on a group of outstanding and inspiring films, each and every one of which got crushed by Black Panther this weekend. Which, that's okay. The success of Black Panther is one of many positive stories this year."
Kimmel also highlighted gender inequality in Hollywood, and some of the evening's nominees who had made history. He said:
"This year, we have a lot to celebrate. Ceilings have been shattered. We have our first ever female nominee for cinematography, which is historic. So many of tonight's nominees are making history, and, in fact, if you are a nominee tonight who isn't making history, shame on you. Greta Gerwig is the first woman to be nominated for director in eight years. And that's important. Only 11% of movies are directed by women. And that is nuts. We still have a very long way to go in that department, and a very long way to go when it comes to equal pay. Especially when you look at what happened with Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams.We all know the story. Mark Wahlberg was paid $1.5 million to reshoot his scenes while Michelle Williams for her reshoots got per diem. The chef was paid $80 a day for the same thing. And what made it especially unfair is that Mark and Michelle are represented by the same agency." He added, "And I have to admit, this story really surprised me. This one shook me, because if we can't trust agents, who can we trust? To his credit, Mark Wahlberg announced he would be donating all $1.5 million to the Time's Up legal defense fund. That's right. So, I guess now the ball's in your court, Michelle. What are you going to do with that 80 bucks?"
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