NEW YORK: President Donald Trump was on people's minds — if not on everyone's lips — as the Oscars started on Sunday night.
Host Jimmy Kimmel, in a reference to the Academy Awards' past controversy over a lack of diversity in nominees, said: "remember last year when people were saying the Oscars were racist?"
He also pointed out nominee Meryl Streep, whose anti-Trump speech at the Golden Globes overshadowed that show's awards last month. He riffed off Trump's post-Globes tweet calling Streep "overrated" and joked about her dress, saying, "by the way, is that an Ivanka?"
And Kimmel also alluded to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer's banning of some reporters from a briefing on Friday, saying that reporters from CNN, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and others needed to leave.
"We have no tolerance for fake news," he said.
Kimmel said about audience members, "some of you will get to come up on stage here and give a speech that the president of the United States will tweet about in all caps during his 5 a.m. bowel movement."
It remained unclear whether anyone would take that chance.