Oscars 2017: Jimmy Kimmel Makes Fun Of Hollywood, Slams Trump In Opening Monologue [VIDEO]

Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel wasted no time taking jabs at President Donald Trump and his administration during his opening monologue at the 2017 Academy Awards.

Kimmel began by mentioning the political divide that has marked America over the past year, saying he didn’t quite know how to solve it or even address it.

“There’s only one ‘Braveheart’ in the room,” he said of Oscar-winner Mel Gibson, who is nominated again this year for his new film Hacksaw Ridge. “And he’s not going to unite us either,” he added as the crowd laughed.

“Remember last year when we thought the Oscars were racist?” Kimmel quipped right after mentioning Trump’s name, alluding to the 2016 #OscarssoWhite controversy regarding the lack of racial diversity amongst that year’s nominees.

“The broadcast is being watched in more than 225 countries that now hate us,” Kimmel also added.

On a more serious note, the host added that he implored everyone to “take a moment to reach out to one person you disagree with and have a positive, considerate conversation … we could really make America great again.”

The late-night show host also made fun of other celebrities in attendance at the awards, especially his No. 1 enemy, Oscar winner Matt Damon. Damon is a producer for Manchester by the Sea, which is nominated for Best Picture.

He noted how Damon was originally supposed to be the main star of Manchester, but turned it down an let his childhood friend Casey Affleck take it to turn down the China-set movie The Great Wall, which got mediocre reviews. The Great Wall, or “Chinese ponytail movie” as Kimmel referred to it, went on to lose $80 million, and he made sure to remind Damon of it. “Smooth move, dumbass,” Kimmel said to Damon.

“When I first met Matt, I was the fat one,” Kimmel said to add insult to injury to the Bourne franchise star.

Kimmel’s biggest jab at Trump was a jocular praise/take-down of Meryl Streep, whom the President lambasted on Twitter by calling her “an overrated actress” after Streep ripped him for mocking a disabled reporter. Kimmel told the crowd: “let’s give the extremely overrated Meryl Streep an undeserving round of applause,” which the three-time Oscar winner indeed received.

He ended by saying, “Some of you will [win tonight] and give a speech that the president of the United States will tweet about in all caps.”

Kimmel also made fun of Trump’s denial of fundamental science and disdain of the arts when he introduced Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs by saying: “Now it’s time for something that is very rare today, a president that believes in both arts and sciences,” he quipped.