Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel took a swipe at the Golden Globes in a new interview with Rolling stone — and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association hit back.
Kimmel, 55, was asked about the “no-holds-barred roast” approach to award show hosting – popularized by Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes – and whether it is “representative of a growing animosity toward celebrities.”
“I think there’s always been animosity towards celebrities,” Kimmel said in the conversation published Wednesday.
“First of all, the Golden Globes is not a real awards ceremony. Let’s be honest. I don’t think any of them are necessarily valid, but if one is valid, it’s the Oscars and the Oscars you get voted for by your peers, like the SAG Awards, the Writer’s Guild Awards, and the Director’s Awards. Guild awards.”
He continued, “But the Globes are a couple of foreign bike couriers who realized they would get some free dinners if they decided to start this organization. I don’t know why it took so long for the world to find out! I think maybe the world didn’t want to find out. We also know that if you have a trophy made, someone will go up and get it.”
“Trophies are like catnip for celebrities. We want them,” Kimmel asserted to Rolling Stone. ‘I’m not sure why we want them! Art as a competition doesn’t seem right and doesn’t seem in the spirit of it, but what Ricky did was largely appropriate for the awards he gave out, which was nonsense.
In a statement Wednesday to The Post, a spokesperson for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which oversees the Golden Globes, called Kimmel’s comments “below the dignity of someone chosen to host a show as important as the Academy Awards.”
“We are disappointed that Mr. Kimmel has decided to belittle the contributions of a diverse group of international entertainment journalists representing 62 countries,” the statement said.
“The Golden Globes voting body is 52% female and 51.8% racially and ethnically diverse, a unique achievement in Hollywood today. Millions of fans around the world support the Golden Globes, which have celebrated the best in film and television for 80 years.”
The Post has reached out to representatives from Kimmel, Gervais and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars.
The HFPA was founded in 1943 by a group of LA-based entertainment journalists. Non-member members and voters can select the Golden Globe nominees and winners.
NBC decided not to broadcast the 2022 Golden Globes due to criticism of the HFPA’s lack of diversity.
The broadcast returned this year after the HFPA allayed concerns by adding 103 new voters. This year’s Golden Globes aired in January — to historically low ratings.
Meanwhile, some 9,500 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — ranging from cinematographers to writers to makeup artists and hair stylists — are eligible to vote to determine the Oscar winners.
On Sunday, Kimmel will receive the Oscars for the third time. Earlier this week, he vowed to beat “the s–t” of anyone attempting a Will Smith-inspired punch — unless that person is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
The Oscars will air on Sunday, March 12 at 8 p.m. ET.
