Malala Yousafzai tweeted a message the morning after Jimmy Kimmel had a peculiar question to ask the activist during the Oscars.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner, 25, appeared highly uncomfortable when the Oscar host approached her with a question during a break.
Kimmel asked Yousafzai — who was a teenage education activist that was shot in the face by the Taliban in Pakistan in 2012 — a question about Chris Pine and Harry Styles’ ‘spit-gate’ debacle.
The “Stranger At The Gate” filmmaker looked confused before answering: “I only talk about peace.”
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Treat people with kindness✌️ https://t.co/ZvUVHcrTBJ
— Malala Yousafzai (@Malala) March 13, 2023
The evening took an even more hectic turn when someone dressed as the movie character Cocaine Bear began to hover around Yousafzai later in the night.
Kimmel shouted: “Cocaine bear, leave Malala alone!” as she looked puzzled and worried.
Many people on Twitter were quick to paint Kimmel negatively for appearing to “harass” the activist, causing Yousafzai to tweet: “‘Treat people with kindness.”
Kimmel is a joke. That was not funny at all. Malala didn't take the bait. Remain unfunny @jimmykimmel https://t.co/CJOjpdtgYH
— Kevin Is Somewhere (@KevinTWho) March 13, 2023
malala looked so uncomfortable when jimmy kimmel was harassing her with his comedy
— sagittarius’ groove ☽ (@sixinchfentys) March 13, 2023
One viewer tweeted: “‘Watching the #Oscars from home, I was absolutely horrified with the interaction between @jimmykimmel and @Malala Jimmy, you were incredibly disrespectful.”
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Malala has suffered enough, now she has to deal with cocaine bear AND Jimmy Kimmel??? #Oscars
— Armando (@UtterPWNedNoob) March 13, 2023
Some viewers, however, came to both Kimmel and Yousfzai’s defence, claiming the Oscars probably staged the whole number.
“They aren’t ambushed. These are all planned and they agree to participate in advance,” wrote one Twitter user.
Another chimed in: “Why is everyone so stuffy? Malala is allowed to have a sense of humor and participate in a lighthearted joke. And I would bet my last dollar that it was all staged and that she agreed to participate beforehand.”