Yes, that was a real message from Donald Trump that Jimmy Kimmel read during Oscars ceremony

Yes, that was a real message from Donald Trump that Jimmy Kimmel read during Oscars ceremony

"Isn't it past your jail time?" Kimmel joked after reading the post complaining about the 96th Academy Awards.

No, that wasn't just a joke: Jimmy Kimmel actually read a real message from former president Donald Trump during the Oscars.

Near the end of the 96th Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, the host began reading a social media post onstage that at first seemed to be a planned joke but turned out to be a real message from Trump complaining about the Oscars and Kimmel himself.

<p>Rich Polk/Variety via Getty</p>

Rich Polk/Variety via Getty

"Has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel at The Oscars," Trump wrote on truthsocial.com. "His opening was that of a less than average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be. Get rid of Kimmel and perhaps replace him with another washed up, but cheap, ABC 'talent,' George Slopanopoulos. He would make everybody on stage look bigger, stronger, and more glamorous."

Trump's message continued, "Also a really bad politically correct show tonight, and for years - Disjointed, boring, and very unfair. Why don’t they just give the Oscars to those that deserve them. Maybe that way their audience and TV ratings will come back from the depths. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

Before Al Pacino presented Best Picture to Oppenheimer, Kimmel took a moment to read the social media post verbatim and then joke about it less than an hour after Trump posted. "Blah, blah, blah," Kimmel said. "Now see if you can guess which former president just posted that on Truthsocial. Anyone? No? Well thank you, President Trump. Thank you for watching. I'm surprised you're still [watching] — isn’t it past your jail time?"

Trump has a long history of tweeting complaints about the Oscars and pop culture in general before he was permanently banned from Twitter (now called X) in 2021 "due to the risk of further incitement of violence" after the Jan. 6 attack on the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Trump has since been indicted and charged in four felony criminal cases.

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Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.