Jimmy Kimmel Pokes Fun at Robert Downey Jr.'s Drug Addiction During Oscar's Opening Monologue

A joke either makes you laugh or cringe and during Oscar's opening monologue, Jimmy Kimmel's jest at Robert Downey Jr. landed flat and drew criticism from the fraternity members sitting in the audience and fans on social media. The comedian passed a remark on Downey Jr.'s past struggle with drug addiction. 

On Sunday, March 10, 2024, the fourth time Oscar host Kimmel left Hollywood A-listers cringing. He joked, "And Robert Downey Jr., one of the highest points of his career. But Robert has been," as Downey Jr. pointed toward his nose before the host added, "Was that too on the nose or a drug motion you made?" He further quipped, "But look at him, he's so handsome, so talented, [and] he's won every award there is to win. Is that an acceptance speech in your pocket or do you just have a very rectangular penis?" per The Daily Mail. Expectedly, the joke didn't sit well with the Iron Man actor as he stared at the camera with a deadpan face. 

This was followed by wrath from Downey Jr.'s fans, who called out Kimmel for his distasteful joke over substance abuse. Users on X, formerly Twitter, expressed their disappointment, and a fan, @BazRavish_69, slammed, "Robert Downey Jr. pretending to not be annoyed by that "highest point" joke." A second fan,@jokictasha, criticized, "Kimmel's gross jokes about Robert Downey Jr reinforce the stigmatizing belief that no matter how long you've been sober, your drug use will always define you. smh." Kimmel also made jokes about Emma Stone and Hollywood's latest record-breaking success film, Barbie. 

Downey Jr. has been vocal about his longstanding battle with drugs. He previously spent time in jail in 1999 for the same, and it all began in 1996 when the habit added troubles to his life. The Oppenheimer star was stopped by the police for speeding when they reportedly found heroin, cocaine, and an unloaded .357 caliber Magnum. Furthermore, in a Netflix documentary Sr., where the actor paid tribute to his late father, Robert Downey Sr. (who died of Parkinson's disease at the age of 85), the MCU actor also discussed his battle with substance abuse at a young age. The 58-year-old overcame his past, but in the docuseries, he recalled becoming an addict while making the 1987 film Less Than Zero. 

"It was just a wild era," recounted Downey Jr. "That whole world, it gets tied into creativity. We were all altering our consciousness with substances. I was just kinda playing a game of just wanting to self-soothe or just stay loaded rather than deal with the fact that things had gone off the tracks a little bit," per PEOPLE. He admitted, "Honestly, more than anything, I look back and go, 'It's shocking that a single movie came out finished,' later referencing the 'drug-culture life that we all got stuck in.' The Oscar winner is now sober but confessed it took him around 20 years to 'get my own s--- together.'