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Jimmy Kimmel rips into Melania documentary at Oscars as he admits Trump will be 'annoyed'

The 98th Academy Awards was filled with star-studded moments that saw A-listers gather at the Dolby Theater once again, where Conan O'Brien hosted the night for a second time

[Jimmy Kimmel]

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Jimmy Kimmel presented at the Oscars

The 98th Academy Awards were held on Sunday, March 15, and broadcast live on ABC, with Conan O'Brien returning to host for the second year in a row.

During the ceremony, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel presented the Oscars for Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short, during which he took aim at Donald Trump's wife, First Lady Melania Trump, poking fun at her self-titled documentary, which was a critical and commercial flop.

As he listed the nominees, the 58-year-old quipped, "Oh man, isn't he going to be annoyed that his wife isn't nominated for this?" Kimmel's jokes came after Conan's curt two-word message to photographers on red carpet.

Jimmy has had a longstanding feud with the 79-year-old president, who celebrated when his show was briefly taken off the air in September 2025 after he commented on the death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk during one broadcast.

The First Lady's documentary, Melania, directed by Brett Ratner, opened to abysmal box office numbers and holds a humiliating 11% critics' score on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, a stark contrast to its 98% audience score. The documentary follows the First Lady in the weeks leading up to her husband's second inauguration in January 2024.

[Jimmy Kimmel]

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Jimmy Kimmel took aim at the Trumps

Melania, produced by Amazon MGM Studios, which shelled out a whopping $40 million to promote the film on top of its $35 million budget, premiered on January 30, 2026. Critics slammed the documentary as 'propaganda.'

The Academy Awards were once again held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, the longtime home of the awards show, and are airing live in the United States on ABC with streaming available on Hulu. The ceremony kicked off at 7 p.m. ET, with red carpet coverage starting earlier in the evening as celebrities arrive and the fashion moments begin.

This years show was hosted by comedian and television personality Conan OBrien, who returned for the second year in a row after receiving positive reviews for hosting the previous ceremony.

[Melania]

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Melania premiered on January 30(Image: Getty Images)

The Oscars celebrate the best films of 2025, and the competition across several categories is expected to be tight. In the Best Picture race, ten films are nominated, including Sinners, One Battle After Another, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, Bugonia, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, F1, and Train Dreams.

One of the biggest talking points heading into the ceremony is the dominance of the film Sinners, which received 16 nominations, the most ever for a single movie in Oscar history. It was followed by One Battle After Another with 13 nominations, while Frankenstein, Marty Supreme, and Sentimental Value each earned nine.

The ceremony featured dozens of presenters from across the film industry, along with musical performances tied to nominated songs.

It comes as a lip reader revealed Kylie Jenner's 6-word explosion at "child" Timothee Chalamet after the Oscars.

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