“The Academy, as you are no doubt aware, took action last year to expel Harvey Weinstein from their ranks,†Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel said a few minutes into his monologue, causing jaws to clench in anticipation throughout the Dolby Theatre. “There were a lot of great nominees, but Harvey deserved it the most.†Thus began an obligatory and generally well-executed riff on the Weinstein fiasco. Kimmel pointed out that the only other person to be expelled from the Academy was character actor Carmine Caridi, who got the boot for sharing screeners. There’s no great way to put a tag on such a bit, so Kimmel and his writers understandably opted to remind us that the world is still horrible. “And the truth is, if we are successful here,†he said, “if we can work together to stop sexual harassment in the workplace, if we can do that, women will only have to deal with harassment all the time at every other place they go.†You can watch the full monologue below.
