‘Most importantly, we want me to feel safe’: Jimmy Kimmel’s best quips about Will Smith’s Oscars slap

‘Hopefully tonight it goes off without a hitch. Or at least without Hitch,’ Kimmel joked

As the first Oscars in the post-Slapgate era, Will Smith was never going to get an easy ride.

The 95th Academy Awards were hosted by late night host Jimmy Kimmel, a seasoned Oscars presenter who was seen as a safe pair of hands by organisers.

While Kimmel’s humour is a lot less risqué than previous presenters such as Chris Rock, he certainly wasn’t going to shy away from joking about the infamous Oscars incident.

Last year, Smith strode on stage and slapped Rock after the comedian made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. Pinkett Smith lives with alopecia.

Here’s every joke Kimmel made about the altercation at this year’s Oscars.

‘If anyone in this theatre commits an act of violence at any point during the show, you will be awarded the Oscar for best actor’

Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel (AP)

“We want you to have fun, feel safe and, most importantly, we want me to feel safe,” Kimmel told the audience in his opening monologue.

“So, we have strict policies in place. If anyone in this theatre commits an act of violence at any point during the show, you will be awarded the Oscar for best actor and permitted to give a 19-minute long speech. But seriously, the academy has a crisis team in place. If anything unpredictable or violent happens during the show, 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 get jiggy with it – it’s not going to be easy,” Kimmel concluded, shouting out his proposed defenders in the audience like Creed star Michael B Jordan’s and Michelle Yeoh.

‘Hopefully tonight it goes off without a hitch. Or at least without Hitch’

Later in the night, Kimmel used one of Smith’s famous movies as a double-entendre. “Our next category is Documentary Feature which as you may recall, is where things went off the rails last year. Hopefully tonight it goes off without a hitch. Or at least without Hitch.”

Smith stars as Alex “Hitch” Hitchens, a professional “date doctor”, in the 2005 rom-com alongside Eva Mendes.

‘It kind of makes you miss the slapping’

Two hours into the Oscars live telecast, Kimmel joked: “At this point in the show, it kind of makes you miss the slapping a little bit, right?”

Find the full list of 2023 Oscar nominees and winners here.