The Most Political Moments Of The Oscars 2017

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by Edwina Langley |
Published on

When even the red carpet is political – if you're wondering why so many stars wore blue ribbons, find out why here – it wasn't exactly going to be an a-political event, was it?

Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel set the tone with his opening speech... 'I want to say 'thank you 'to President Trump,' he said. 'Remember last year when it seemed the Oscars were racist?' he asked. 'That's gone, thanks to him.'

He continued to poke fun at the President, referencing the time Trump tweeted Meryl Streep was 'overrated' – following the time she made 'that' anti-Trump Golden Globes speech.

'One actress has stood the test of time for her many uninspiring and overrated performances,' Jimmy said, naming Meryl, before going on to point out she's had 20 Oscar nominations in her career so far. 'She wasn't even in a movie this year,' he quipped, 'we just wrote her name in out of habit.'

Jokes aside, whilst he insisted he wouldn't be capable of uniting the country – as people had told him he must attempt to do – he told the audience, 'If every one of you took a minute to reach out to one person you disagree with and have a positive, considerate conversation (not as Liberals or Conservatives), as Americans – if we all do that – we can make America Great again.'

The anti-Trump sentiment continued throughout the night, however. Half-way through the ceremony, Jimmy Tweeted this...

And shortly afterwards...

Gael Garcia Bernal On Trump's Mexican Wall

Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal was presenting the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film (alongside Hailee Steinfeld) when he took a moment of his time in the spotlight to say: 'As a Mexican, as a Latin American as a migrant worker, as a human being, I'm against any form of wall that wants to separate us.'

His words were, naturally, met with rapturous applause.

Iranian Filmmaker Asghar Farhadi Boycotts The Oscars

He won Best Foreign Language Film for his movie, The Salesman, but to collect his award, Asghar Farhadi sent an Iranian-American engineer Anousheh Ansari in his place.

In a speech he'd written – which she read out – he said, 'My absence is out of respect for the people of my country, and those of other 6 nations, who have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the US.'

He continued, 'Dividing the world into the 'us' and 'our enemies' categories, creates fear. A deceitful justification for aggression and war. These wars prevent democracies and human rights in countries which have themselves been victims of aggression.'

Viola Davis' Acceptance Speech

In her acceptance speech for winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing Rose Maxson in Fences, Viola said: 'People ask me all the time — 'What kind of stories do you want to tell, Viola?' And I say, 'Exhume those bodies. Exhume those stories — the stories of the people who dreamed big and never saw those dreams to fruition, people who fell in love and lost.''

She went on to say of the Fences' playwright, 'Here's to August Wilson who exhumed, and exalted, the ordinary people.'

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