JIMMY Kimmel slammed Academy Award members in his scathing live monologue for not acting after Will Smith's Oscar's slap.
The star assured this year's attendees the Academy had a plan in place to keep everyone "safe," including himself.
Jimmy, 55, opened Sunday's awards show with a lengthy monologue poking fun a pop culture moments and celebrities who were and weren't in attendance.
Eventually, he came around to the elephant in the room: Will Smith slapping Chris Rock during the 2023 Oscars.
The late night TV host joked: "We know this is a special night for you. We want you to have fun, we want you to feel safe and, most importantly, we want me to feel safe so we have strict policies in place.
"If anyone in this theater commits an act of violence at any point in this show, you will be awarded the Oscar for best actor and permitted to give a 19-minute long speech."
He went on: "No but seriously, the Academy has a crisis team in place. If anything unpredictable or violent happens during the ceremony, just do what you did last year: nothing.
"Sit there and do absolutely nothing. Maybe even give the assailant a hug and if any of you get mad at a joke and decide you want to come up here and get jiggy with it, it’s not gonna be easy. There are a few of my friends you’re gonna have to get through first."
Jimmy then pointed out a few celebrities in the crowd who he claimed would protect him, including Creed star Michael B. Jordan and Everything, Everywhere, All at Once star Michelle Yeoh.
Will, 54, was not in attendance at the show and was barred from presenting after last year's shocking incident.
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He hit host Chris, 58, after he cracked a joke on stage about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, who suffers from alopecia.
CHRIS SPEAKS
Chris was whacked on stage by the A-list star of movies including Men In Black and Independence Day after he made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith's buzz cut, despite it being well known she suffers from the hair loss condition alopecia.
Opening up about the clash, Chris said Will had an advantage over him because of his size and joked about the film roles they had landed reflecting their physiques.
Chris said of Will: “He played Muhammad Ali! I played Pookie (in New Jack City).
“Even in animated movies, I’m a zebra, he’s a f***ing shark.”
He also made sure he got an extra laugh by mocking Will’s 1991 hit song, adding: “I got hit so hard I heard Summertime ringing in my ears.”
Chris makes the comments in his new Netflix special Selective Outrage, his live show from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore in the US which will be streamed a week before this month’s Oscars on March 13.
After the incident Will, who picked up the Best Actor gong for his role in King Richard on the same evening, was banned from the ceremony for a decade.
And while he was allowed to keep hold of his gong, his new Apple+ film Emancipation was snubbed by the Academy this year, not receiving a single nod.
SLAP BACKLASH
The slap had bigger effects than just the obvious.
A senior Academy member revealed exclusively to The U.S. Sun how they believe Will was on course for a "double Oscar win" with Emancipation had he not been banned for a decade for his attack a year ago.
The source claimed that Apple had planned to pursue a multimillion-dollar campaign to bag its first headline Oscar Best Actor win for Smith's powerful performance in the slave drama Emancipation.
Highly respected costume designer Deborah L. Scott expressed her support for Smith before collecting the Career Achievement Honor at the 25th CDGA (Costume Designers Guild Awards) at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.
Scott revealed how stars like Smith, who collaborated on Wild Wild West, forge strong working partnerships to structure their characters.
She confirmed that Hollywood had "put the controversy in the past," adding of Smith: "He is an amazing picture of a person.
“We are all fallible. We all make mistakes. We all can change.
"Things can happen. And that is fine. Will is an incredible actor.
“Emancipation is a spectacular performance. A very well-directed movie, and Antoine Fuqua did an amazing job, and it got overlooked this year, which is sad," Scott said.
She continued: "The wonderful thing about Will is that he has all this stature. Even in the days of Wild Wild West, he was a singer and had all this stuff going, but he would come in the fitting room and say: 'I have no idea what I am until I put all your costumes on.'
"And that is gratifying. He is a very nice man that way, very grateful."
Scott revealed on the red carpet that working with humble Smith has been one of many success stories during her fantastic career, which includes designing looks on flicks like Avatar: The Way of Water.
"I have dealt with so many brilliant actors from small to big, and the most important thing is to have respect for each other.
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"And you are very lucky to get together in that fitting room and sometimes to invent the character right there. It is a mad bunch of paints.
"The conversation that goes in the fitting room is spectacular.”
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