Uncensored Free Speech Platform

Jimmy Kimmel calls US ‘ridiculous country’ with ‘a different Mr. T’ in charge
How is this acceptable?

Late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel lamented the current status of the world and the U.S.’s leadership at the Oscars on Sunday.

Kimmel, a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, said he is “exhausted” by current events. 

“It’s ridiculous, we live in a ridiculous country,” Kimmel said to Variety. “We always lived in a ridiculous country, but it was always ridiculous in a fun, Mr. T kind of way. Now, we’ve got a different Mr. T.”

Jimmy Kimmel says that we “live in a ridiculous country” and that he’s “not scared but always hopeful.”

Vanity Fair #Oscar Party
— Variety (@Variety) March 16, 2026

Kimmel also said he’s “not scared,” and concluded he’s “always hopeful.”

“No, I’m not scared, no, I’m not scared. Am I hopeful? I’m always hopeful,” Kimmel said.

The comedian spoke at the 98th Academy Awards, and said there are “some countries” where its leaders don’t support free speech. He said he wasn’t “at liberty” to give specifics, but namedropped “North Korea and CBS.” 

Jimmy Kimmel takes a dig at CBS at the #Oscars: “As you know, there are some countries whose leaders don’t support free speech. Let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS.”

(via ABC/AMPAS)
— Variety (@Variety) March 16, 2026

Kimmel also joked that Trump would be mad his wife, first lady Melania Trump, wasn’t nominated for any Academy Awards, likely referring to the Melania documentary released earlier this year. White House Director of Communications Assistant Steven Cheung rebuffed Kimmel’s swipe, saying on X that Kimmel is “a classless hack who is self-projecting his depression and sadness onto others.

Jimmy Kimmel (Mr. Blackface) is a classless hack who is self-projecting his depression and sadness onto others. He lives a pathetic existence where nobody— not even his family— enjoys his miserable company. The only people giving him any attention are Hollywood Elites. BUH-BYE!
— Steven Cheung (@StevenCheung47) March 16, 2026

BILL MAHER ACCUSES TRUMP OF BEING ‘CAUGHT OFF GUARD’ BY HORMUZ CLOSURE

Kimmel received national attention last year when his show was briefly suspended in September over comments he made on Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk’s assassin, claiming the “MAGA gang” attempted to portray the shooter as “anything other than one of them.” Kimmel’s show returned to the airwaves about a week later, and he said, “It was never my intention to make light” of Kirk’s murder.

Comedian Conan O’Brien …

Stephen Colbert will probably start ‘resistance’ podcast after his show ends: Guy Benson
Be honest—this is ridiculous.

Washington Examiner columnist Guy Benson said Sunday that late-night host Stephen Colbert will portray himself as being “silenced” by President Donald Trump once his show ends.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is airing various tributes ahead of the show’s final episode on May 21. The guests’ eulogies over the past six months have drawn the attention of Variety, which said in a piece that his farewell season has gone from “resistance to ego tour.”

Colbert has been a frequent critic of Trump, and said after his show was canceled that “the gloves are off” until his show ends.

“I think the reason he’s doing all the resistance stuff isn’t just because he believes it,” Benson said on Fox News’s The Big Weekend Show, “but he has an eye to the next gig, which is he’ll have some podcast, he’ll make a ton of money doing it, and it’ll be marketed basically as, ‘I was silenced because of Trump and the undue influence on CBS, so come to the resistance with me,’ almost like a resistance duty for the audience to show up and get him paid in the new gig.”

CONAN O’BRIEN MAKES JOKE ABOUT EPSTEIN DURING OSCARS MONOLOGUE

Benson said it appears “the whole driving force” of Colbert’s show these days is hating one political party” and added that the show’s guests are “one-sided.” He said this seems “very boring” for a show.

Trump took a victory lap after the plug was pulled on Colbert’s show, saying he “absolutely” loves the cancellation. He also suggested Jimmy Kimmel Live! could be “next.”

Conan O’Brien makes joke about Epstein during Oscars monologue
Nobody voted for this.

Comedian host Conan O’Brien was the host for the 98th Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday night in Hollywood, California. During his opening monologue, the former talk show host mostly avoided political topics, instead focusing his humor on the entertainment industry, most notably Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, actor Leonardo DiCaprio, and actor Timothee Chalamet, in the news recently for remarks critical of ballet and opera. Yet, O’Brien did deliver one joke about the Epstein controversy, taking aim at British elitists who were arrested in February. 

After making a joke about how Amazon Studios did not receive any Oscar nominations this year, O’Brien mentioned that no British thespians were nominated in the best actor or best actress categories. He then made the quip about Epstein and British officials linked to the disgraced financier being arrested, with a not-so-subtle reference to the lack of arrests in the United States.

“It’s the first time since 2012, first time since 2012, that there are no British actors nominated for best actor or best actress,” O’Brien said. 

“Yeah,” O’Brien continued. “A British spokesperson said, ‘Yeah, well, at least we arrest our pedophiles. So, we got that going for us.”

The joke was followed by 13 seconds of applause from the audience and silence from O’Brien, who walked around on the stage. 

On Feb. 19, authorities in Great Britain arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Prince Andrew, over alleged connections and suspicions of misconduct related to his association with Jeffrey Epstein. 

“As part of the investigation, we have today (19/2) arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office and are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk,” read a statement released by Thames Valley police at the time. “The man remains in police custody at this time. We will not be naming the arrested man, as per national guidance.”

“Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office,” said Oliver Wright, Thames Valley police’s assistant chief constable. 

“It is important that we protect the integrity and objectivity of our investigation as we work with our partners to investigate this alleged offence,” he added. “We understand the significant public interest in this case, and we will provide updates at the appropriate time.” 

Mountbatten-Windsor was released on bail after a 10-11-hour detention, according …

Who Will Win Big at the Oscars?
Be honest—this is ridiculous.

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Books & the Arts

/ March 13, 2026

Who Will Win Big at the Oscars?

It’s that time of year again. 

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(Courtesy of A24 / Warner Bros / NEON)

This weekend is Oscar weekend. Your guess is as good as ours as to who the night’s winners might be, but here are some of our favorites among the nominees.

Secret Agent

(Courtesy of Neon)

Vikram Murthi: From its opening scene—a shakedown of Armando Solimões (Wagner Moura) by local authorities at a rural gas station—Kleber Mendonça Filho immerses viewers in a world of casual corruption and clandestine violence endemic to authoritarian rule.
 

One Battle After Another

John Semley: At first blush, Pynchon’s Vineland seemed unadaptable in a contemporary context…but Paul Thomas Anderson’s film proves that these more central divisions—between freaks and squares, parents and children, the rigid brokers of authority and subversive agents of liberation—can be mapped across American history.
 

Sinners

Stephen Kearse: Vampires, with their transgressive hunger for flesh and obsession with progeny, prove to be a potent vehicle for Ryan Coogler’s fascination with bloodlines. Although he doesn’t quite reinvent the classic creature, and his ambition gets ahead of him, the world into which he unleashes his vampires is rich with tensions and history.
 

Sirāt

(Courtesy of Neon)

Vikram Murthi: The ravers in Sirāt have learned the hard way that traditional social structures were never designed to save them. They must rely on themselves.
 

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Beatrice Loayza: If I Had Legs I’d Kick You endorses the well-seasoned argument that women will be judged more fiercely than their male counterparts for their parental failures, gesturing at a constellation of such case studies. Yet Mary Bronstein proves less interested in exploring the gender disparity in childrearing, sidestepping a more generic resolution that entails marital reconciliation and an open acknowledgement of the rift.
 

Marty Supreme

Current Issue

April 2026 Issue

Erin Schwartz: Marty’s real talent: the art of never-ending arbitrage, leveraging each small lucky break toward a bigger and bigger payday. That this produces a cascade of escalating disasters doesn’t dissuade him—it’s all in pursuit of greatness, and if he achieves greatness, it was all worth it.
 

Sentimental Value

Alana Pockros: With Sentimental Value, [Joachim] Trier makes the case that nostalgia doesn’t have to drag one down but can actually propel one forward.
 

It Was Just an Accident

(Courtesy of Neon)

Alex Kong: Jafar Panahi defied the attempts to silence him by making films in secret throughout this time. It Was Just an …

Jimmy Kimmel carps over Trump’s record-breaking State of the Union: ‘Play him off’
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.

President Donald Trump‘s critics voiced their displeasure over his record-breaking State of the Union address, with longtime rival Jimmy Kimmel harping over the speech’s length.

Trump spoke to Congress for 108 minutes, breaking the record of 100 minutes he set last year. He had warned previously that the address would be “a long speech because we have so much to talk about.” Kimmel, with newfound resistance laurels over his brief firing over a joke about assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk, led the charge.

“They do need to hire an orchestra to play him off like the Oscars. At the stroke of 90 minutes, go straight into ‘Y.M.C.A.’ and end it,” Kimmel joked.

“The speech went on so long, Kristi Noem’s dog shot itself,” he said at another point.

Kimmel also compared Trump’s immigration policies to the Holocaust.

“Trump applauded the efforts of a World War II vet who liberated an internment camp, at the same time he is building new ones here in the United States,” he said.

Most other criticisms focused on the speech’s length, driven in part by Trump’s repeated awarding of medals to military servicemen and heckling.

“Oh yeah, I think we’re all expecting that. You’re incapable of being brief. Even if you were just going to read a haiku, I would expect two intermissions,” late-night host Seth Meyers said.

‘THESE PEOPLE ARE CRAZY’: SIX TAKEAWAYS FROM TRUMP’S STATE OF THE UNION

“Trump told us in advance that the speech was going to be long and, for once, he was telling the truth,” Jimmy Fallon said.

The wider reception of Trump’s speech was predictably divided along partisan lines, with Republicans hailing it as a great address that retook framing around messaging, while Democrats decried it as rambling and incoherent.

Who's Board of Peace and who's bored of peace? The quiz knows — do you?

Plus: The Oscars, tool-using animals, Nobel drama and more.