Jimmy Kimmel says he's 'ready for anything' at the Oscars, year after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock

ByHosea Sanders WLS logo
Thursday, March 9, 2023
Jimmy Kimmel says he's 'ready for anything' at the Oscars, year after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock
After Will Smith smacked last year's host Chris Rock, Kimmel is taking no chances!

CHICAGO -- We're counting down to the Oscars with just three more days until Hollywood's biggest celebration of movies and their magic.

Jimmy Kimmel returns as the host for the third time, and tells ABC7's Hosea Sanders that no wrong envelopes or punches thrown will stop him as he soars into the spotlight like a Top Gun!

Kimmel: "What's happening, Hosea?"

Sanders: "Hey, Jimmy how you doing?"

Kimmel: "Is that wood sculpture of you behind you?"

Sanders: "It's all me, everything is me."

Sanders: "Honestly I will make changes in the monologue as I'm walking out on stage, I'll go to the teleprompter guy and tell him, 'just lose that joke, I don't feel good about it.'"

After Will Smith smacked last year's host Chris Rock, Kimmel is taking no chances!

Sanders: "Somehow I see you training, like the guys from 'Creed,' getting ready for anything that might happen right?"

Kimmel: "That's right, luckily I will have Adonis Creed in the audience and I said to him, 'Please, for the love of God, if anybody tries to come at me, grab 'em, will ya?'"

Kimmel: "I remember when the envelope mix up thing was happening, and nobody knew what to do, and I was the only one with a microphone onstage. And I remember looking into the audience with all these famous people and Denzel Washington was telling me, 'Give Barry the mic.' He wanted me to give the director of 'Moonlight the mic, and I was like, 'Oh yeah that's what I should do.'"

Sanders: "Jimmy, you've got so much love coming from Chicago, what can you give back, and what can we expect from you?""

Kimmel: "What I'll bring to Chicago, I can't give you Oprah this year, hopefully nine to eleven hours of laughs."