Oscars 2024: Jimmy Kimmel roasts Robert De Niro in opening monologue

Jimmy Kimmel’s opening monologue at the 96th Academy Awards had him poking fun at a bunch of topics, ranging from Greta Gerwig’s snub for Best Director to the long runtime of some of the nominated films. Jimmy also took his aim at Robert De Niro, and joked about his younger girlfriend at the Dolby Theatre in LA. (Also read: Oscars 2024 live updates)
During his opening monologue, Jimmy said: “Here’s some fun Oscar trivia: 48 years ago, Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster were nominated for Taxi Driver, and they’re both nominated again tonight. 1976 was the year.” He was talking about the acclaimed Martin Scorsese feature film that starred Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster, and earned Oscar nominations for both stars in Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress race respectively.
He further added, “In 1976, Jodie Foster was young enough to be Robert De Niro’s daughter. Now, she’s 20 years too old to be his girlfriend.” This year, Robert is nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for Killers of the Flower Moon and Jodie Foster is in the race for Best Supporting Actress for Nyad.
As the camera cut to Jodie, she gave an affirmative nod to the joke. Robert, who sat with 45-year-old girlfriend Tiffany Chen, also looked amused at the joke. He welcomed a daughter with girlfriend Tiffany Chen last year in April. The relationship between Robert and Tiffany started during the shoot of The Intern. They were spotted together on a romantic vacation in the south of France in 2021.
Robert shares daughter Drena, 51, and son Raphael, 46, with his first wife, Diahnne Abbott. In 1995, he welcomed twin sons Julian and Aaron, 27, with his former girlfriend, model, and actor Toukie Smith. De Niro also has a son Elliot, 24, and a daughter Helen Grace, 11, with his ex-wife, Grace Hightower.