Jimmy Kimmel - Why we love the Oscars host | Gallery

By Wonderwall.com Editors 8:30am PST, Feb 27, 2018

Jimmy Kimmel will host the 2018 Academy Awards on March 4, 2018. In honor of his second time emceeing the movie world's biggest night, Wonderwall.com is sharing the top 10 reasons we just can't get enough of him! Keep reading to see what we love most about the comedian and late-night host…

1. He cares about kids and healthcare

Jimmy Kimmel has a big heart. He's unexpectedly emerged as a loud cheerleader for universal healthcare and health insurance reform following a major health scare that affected his family in 2017. Jimmy's son Billy was born in April 2017 with a serious heart defect and needed immediate life-saving surgery. Jimmy used his late-night show's opening monologue several times to raise awareness for how financially impractical the cost of healthcare in America is for families that don't have the resources that his does. Love that he wants to help people — especially kids!

2. David Letterman is his idol

Jimmy Kimmel has no shame when it comes to gushing over his favorite late-night host of all time. On the Oct. 17, 2017, airing of his show, Jimmy explained, "David Letterman is to me what Beyoncé is to everyone else."

3. His annual Halloween candy prank makes us laugh every time

One of the absolute best things Jimmy Kimmel does to make us laugh? His annual prank on children — his own daughter, Jane (pictured), is not even immune — for Halloween. He has parents film themselves telling their kids that Mom or Dad ate all their Halloween candy and the kids ALWAYS have an epic reaction. Hilarious!

4. He's loyal to his sidekick, Guillermo

Jimmy Kimmel is fiercely loyal. His longtime sidekick, Guillermo Rodriguez, started out as a parking security guard at the comedian's Hollywood Boulevard studios. But in 2011 — to viewers' delight — he began interviewing celebrities and appearing in bits for "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" That success helped Guillermo transition into Jimmy's much beloved sidekick.

5. He has the funniest rift with Matt Damon

The ongoing fake feud that Jimmy Kimmel has with Matt Damon is one that somehow gets funnier and funnier as time goes on. The feud began in the early days of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in 2003 when Jimmy signed off by saying that he was sorry for bumping Matt from the show because they'd run out of time, even though Matt wasn't actually there. The joke became a running gag and fuel for pranks for more than a decade. Jimmy's ex-girlfriend Sarah Silverman even got in on the action in 2013 by presenting Jimmy with a music video detailing her affair with Matt. In February 2016, Matt's BFF Ben Affleck smuggled Matt onto Jimmy's annual Oscar show. "I was actually nominated for an Oscar and I can't get on the Oscar show?" Matt scolded Jimmy as his chair was pushed off the stage. In July 2016, Matt addressed the hilarious feud that never ends in a SiriusXM Town Hall interview. "I don't see anything funny about it," he quipped. "I've spent thousands and thousands and thousands of hours of my life sitting backstage waiting to come on and every single night… We just had some couples therapy last week and he said time management was his problem, but somehow it doesn't get in the way of him letting other people on the show with plenty of time." Jimmy and Matt also memorably poked fun of one another during the 2017 Oscars telecast.

6. President Obama thinks he's funny too!

As the host of the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in 2012, Jimmy Kimmel was tasked with making fun of the president of the United States — and he delivered. "Hey, Mr. President, do you remember when the country rallied around you in hopes for a better tomorrow?" he asked. "That was hilarious." Barack Obama took Jimmy's jokes in stride and even gave him a presidential seal of approval by high-fiving him at the end.

7. He gets celebs to read mean things about themselves

Jimmy Kimmel's "Mean Tweets" segment is one of the best on late-night TV. He regularly has actors, musicians and athletes read aloud some of the cruelest things social media users say about them. Some hilarious examples include the time that Drake read a tweet that said he looked like "Harry Potter" villain Voldemort but with hair, and the time Britney Spears read one that said, "The weather in New York City right now is like a young Britney Spears: pretty hot, kinda gross." Jimmy has even read mean online comments about himself — and had Sofia Vergara read some of them to him too. "I have never liked Kimmel and I still don't. He's such an unfunny creep," one said. It's good to see that like the rest of his celeb guests, Jimmy can laugh about harsh words online.

8. He is friendly… even with his ex

Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman broke up in July 2008 after five years of dating, briefly got back together then split again in March 2009. Nonetheless, Jimmy has managed to stay friendly with Sarah and has brought her on his late-night show multiple times post-split with hilarious results. During one very funny appearance, Sarah pulled out a box and proceeded to give Jimmy back some of his stuff, like a toothbrush and a pair of big jeans (he weighed a lot more when they dated). She described being on his show as his ex as "weird, but it's good weird." During another appearance, Jimmy asked Sarah who her dad preferred — him or her then-boyfriend, Welsh actor Michael Sheen. According to Sarah, her father "turned to me and said, 'Jimmy who?'" She also said that Michael was her dad's "new best friend" and that the honor was "no small feat." Although Jimmy clearly was not her father's pick, he seemed genuinely happy for her and Michael, who ended up amicably splitting in early 2018 after more than four years together.

9. He has a love for shoes

Who doesn't love a guy who enjoys shoe shopping? "I've never been good at buying clothing for the women in my life," Jimmy Kimmel admitted to Glamour in 2015. "But somehow over the last few years, I've figured out shoes. And it delights me to no end when I find shoes that I think my daughter and wife will like, and they actually do! I recently sent my wife an email with a link to a purse to see if she thought it was cool. So these are the things we discuss. To be honest, it drives her crazy, but I can't help myself." Molly McNearney's a lucky lady!

10. He's an avid fan of cookbooks

Jimmy Kimmel has been very open about his intense love of cooking. Not only does he regularly have major chefs (like Jamie Oliver) come on his show, but Jimmy has claimed that he owns more than 1,000 cookbooks. We have no clue when he would have time to try the recipes, but at least he could if he wanted to!