Thirty years after his first Oscar nomination, Robert Downey Jr. has bagged his first Academy Award!
At the 96th Academy Awards last night, the actor won the gong for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Rear Adm. Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer.
Despite being revered as one of the most accomplished actors in Hollywood, Downey had not gotten his hands on the coveted trophy until last night. He had previously been nominated for Best Actor in 1993 for Chaplin and Best Supporting Actor in 2008 for Tropic Thunder.
Jimmy Kimmel jokes about Robert Downey Jr.'s drug addiction in his opening monologue at the Oscars:
Injecting some humor into his acceptance speech, Downey joked: "I'd like to thank my terrible childhood," which elicited more than a few laughs in the audience. He went on to share his gratitude to the Academy. He also praised his wife, Susan, paying tribute to her role in his journey from troubled actor to Oscar winner.
Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer was undoubtedly one of the biggest films of 2023, clinching (at 13) the largest number of nominations at this year's Oscars.
Downey won over competitors including Sterling K. Brown for American Fiction, Ryan Gosling for Barbie, Mark Ruffalo for Poor Things, and Robert De Niro for Killers of the Flower Moon.
His victory this time around was perhaps unsurprising considering he recently secured some enviable gongs including supporting actor at the Golden Globes, BAFTA Film Awards, SAG Awards, and Critics Choice Awards.
Downey had been open about his substance abuse in his 2022 documentary Sr., which pays tribute to his late filmmaker father. He spoke candidly about struggling with drug addiction from a young age and his brushes with the law after his first Academy Award nomination 30 years ago when he was 28.
He said he was grateful he did not win the award back in 1993, stating this may have reinforced his reckless behavior.
Before the actor won the award, his past with drug addiction was brought up by host Jimmy Kimmel during his opening monologue - and it didn't go down well with viewers at home.
The 56-year-old actually started well - honoring Barbie star Margot Robbie and director Greta Gerwig, whom many people felt had been snubbed at this year's event.
Then he decided to turn his attention to Downey.
As the audience settled into their seats at the star-studded event, Kimmel wasted no time diving into the fray with a series of razor-sharp quips aimed squarely at Downey's past struggles. "This is the highest point of Robert Downey Jr.'s long and illustrious career. Well, one of the highest points," Kimmel teased.
But while Kimmel may have been aiming for laughs, it did look like his remarks hit a nerve with the Iron Man star himself. As cameras panned to Downey, the actor's expression spoke volumes, betraying a mix of discomfort and displeasure. However, there was no Oscars slap here, as Downey was able to shrug off the comments.
Nevertheless, that didn't stop social media users rushing to X (formerly Twitter) to voice their thoughts on the "jokes" - with viewers branding them "unnecessary" and "distasteful".
"That Robert Downey Jr joke was unnecessary," one X user wrote, with a second adding: "@JimmyKimmelLive horrible at hosting the Oscars, the Robert Downey Jr joke was not funny at all."
Another livid viewer tweeted: "Kimmel scraping the bottom of the barrel with Robert Downey Jr drug 'jokes'. Rehashing old news because he can’t come up with any new material. Deafening silence from the audience was so uncomfortable and embarrassing!"
A fourth added: "The Robert Downey Jr jokes are the most distasteful jokes I got so uncomfortable."
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