Oscars 2023 host Jimmy Kimmel is ready for anything to happen, including another potential slap.
Almost a year after Will Smith stormed onto the Academy Awards stage and hit presenter Chris Rock in the face over a joke aimed at Jada Pinkett Smith, Kimmel said he now has a plan in place if “somebody comes up on the stage and slaps me” as well.
As he explained in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published March 7, “Well, I size them up, and, if I’m bigger than they are, I beat the s–t out of them on television.”
The comedian jokingly added that if that person were to be Dwayne Johnson, who is slated to present at this year’s ceremony, “I run.”
This upcoming Oscars will be Kimmel’s third time hosting the award show. During his inaugural stint as emcee in 2017, Kimmel was witness to a major Academy snafu when La La Land was incorrectly named as the Best Picture winner over Moonlight. The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host touched on the headline-making gaffe in his Oscars opening monologue the following year, joking to nominees in the audience, “When you hear your name called, don’t get up right away. Just give us a minute. We don’t want another thing.”