Oscars 2023: Jimmy Kimmel jokes about lack of female Best Director nominees during opening monologue

Jimmy Kimmel made a joke about the lack of female directorial nominees in his opening monologue for the 2023 Oscars.

The late-night presenter made the joke while discussing James Cameron, who missed out on a Best Director nomination for the 2022 blockbuster Avatar: The Way of Water.

Noting that Cameron had not been nominated, Kimmel questioned how the Academy could neglect to nominate the filmmaker.

“What do they think he is, a woman?” Kimmell said.

Nominated in the Best Director category this year were Todd Field (Tár), Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin), Ruben Östlund (Triangle of Sadness) and Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans).

Last year, the award was won by Jane Campion, for her Netflix drama The Power of the Dog.

Only seven women have ever been nominated for the award, with Campion joining Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) and Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) as the third to ever win it.

While Cameron was not nominated for Best Director, his follow-up to 2009’s Avatar was nonetheless nominated for several awards, including Best Picture.

Also in competition are The Banshees of Inisherin, The Fabelmans, Top Gun: Maverick, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Triangle of Sadness, Women Talking, All Quiet on the Western Front, Elvis and Tár.

Early in the night, Hugh Grant divided viewers with a “painful” interview conducted on the red carpet.

For a breakdown of which films and nominees are likely to emerge from the night victorious, click here. Here is a full list of the nominees.

You can keep up to date with the latest Oscar developments in our dedicated liveblog.