Jimmy Kimmel has been blasted over the joke (Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Jimmy Kimmel is facing fierce backlash after asking Malala Yousafzai for her thoughts on the Don’t Worry Darling spitgate drama at the Academy Awards.
The late night talk show host was fronting this year’s Oscars on Sunday night and approached human rights activist Malala, who survived being shot at by the Taliban in 2012, as she sat in the audience.
During a Q&A segment, the presenter quipped: ’Great to have you here, congratulations on your movie. This question is from Joanne from Brooklyn, New York…
‘She asks: “Your work on human rights and education for women and children is an inspiration. As the youngest Nobel prize winner in history, I was wondering, do you think Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine?”’
As the audience laughed at the comment, Malala refrained from offering up her opinion on the infamous scandal and politely replied: ‘I only talk about peace.’
‘You know what, that’s why you’re Malala and no one else is,’ the host said, before quickly moving on.
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Malala was praised for her response (Picture: WireImage)
Elsewhere during the show, someone dressed up as Cocaine Bear from the blockbuster movie crawled down the aisle towards her, as Jimmy shouted: ‘Cocaine bear, leave Malala alone!’
Viewers have criticised the way she was brought into the show, with one person tweeting: ‘Watching the #Oscars from home, I was absolutely horrified with the interaction between @jimmykimmel and @Malala Jimmy, you were incredibly disrespectful.’
Another person said: ‘I love @jimmykimmel but his interaction with Malala was one of the worst and most painful things I’ve seen on TV in so many years.’
Jimmy jokingly asked for Malala’s take on spitgate (Picture: Getty)
Oscar winners 2023
Here are the winners for the 95th Oscar Awards:
Best motion picture of the year
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Brendan Fraser in The Whale
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Ke Huy Quan in Everything Everywhere All at Once
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Jamie Lee Curtis in Everything Everywhere All at Once
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
Naatu Naatu from RRR, Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose
Achievement in directing
Everything Everywhere All at Once – Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
Best animated feature film of the year
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Achievement in cinematography
All Quiet on the Western Front
Achievement in costume design
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Best documentary feature
Navalny
Best documentary short subject
The Elephant Whisperers
Achievement in film editing
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Best international feature film of the year
All Quiet on the Western Front – Germany
Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
The Whale
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
All Quiet on the Western Front – Volker Bertelmann
Achievement in production design
All Quiet on the Western Front
Best animated short film
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Best live action short film
An Irish Goodbye
Achievement in sound
Top Gun: Maverick
Achievement in visual effects
Avatar: The Way of Water
Adapted screenplay
Women Talking
Original screenplay
Everything Everywhere All at Once
‘Why did jimmy kimmel and the cocaine bear just harass malala oh my god leave her alone (sic),’ added a third, while another viewer labelled the Jimmy Kimmel Live star a ‘national disgraced’.
Referring to the spitgate question, someone else said: ‘I hope Jimmy Kimmel pays for making Malala answer that question. She deserves better than that!’
Malala has since responded on Twitter, posting a video of the moment from the awards, along with the caption: ‘Treat people with kindness,’ and the peace sign emoji.
More: Trending
In case you’ve forgotten, last summer Don’t Worry Darling was plagued with rumours of an on-set feud between director Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh, and footage from Venice Film Festival seemed to show Harry Styles ‘spitting’ on Chris Pine as they took their seats.
Not surprisingly, internet sleuths spent hours inspecting the clips from all angles, although everyone involved has since insisted that no spitting took place.
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