LOS ANGELES- Jimmy Kimmel parachuted onto the stage at the 95th Academy Awards and quickly began delivering one-liners to the celebs in attendance, and to some who were out of sight.
Not at the Dolby Theater, but still a key part of Kimmel’s monologue: Will Smith, who last year was banned from the Oscars for 10 years after storming the stage and punching Chris Rock.
“We want you to have fun,” Kimmel told the audience. “We want you to feel safe. Most importantly, we want to I feel safe. That’s why we have a strict policy: If anyone in this theater is violent at any time during the show, you get the Oscar for Best Actor and you get 19 minutes to speak. “
Kimmel noted that the Oscars created a crisis team this year after last year’s incident.
He joked: “If something unexpected or violent happens during the ceremony, do what you did last year: nothing. Just sit there and do nothing. Even a handshake is possible. the aggressor in his arms.’
Kimmel opened the ceremony with a nod to Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick, where he digitally inserted himself into a flight scene and reluctantly threw himself out of the cockpit – landing on the Dolby stage.
This came as real fighter jets flew over Los Angeles and paid their respects to the film. US Navy pilots aboard F/A-18 Super Hornets fly across Hollywood Boulevard after taking off from Naval Air Station Lemoore near Fresno.
SEE MORE: Jimmy Kimmel is up for it all as host of the 95th Academy Awards Sunday night on ABC.
Kimmel, who is in his third season, said he is ready for anything this year.
His opening monologue was addressed to several audience members including Steven Spielberg, Austin Butler and Seth Rogen.
He also poked fun at himself by referring to a misread winner for the night’s biggest prize, Best Picture in 2017.
He referred to an awkward moment at last year’s Oscars and said that if anyone came looking for him, he would have an army of bodyguards waiting for him.
