Nicole Kidman abandoned AMC joke explained as Jimmy Kimmel roasts actress in Oscars 2023 monologue

Nicole Kidman became the subject of comedian Jimmy Kimmel's jokes at the 2023 Oscars.

Kimmel, who was hosting the 95th Academy Awards, roasted Nicole Kidman for doing an AMC theater advertisement in 2021. In the ad, she was seen sitting in an empty theater talking about the magic of movies. The advertisement became a viral meme and didn't go unnoticed by Jimmy Kimmel.

In his monolog at the 2023 Oscars, Kimmel said that being at the Oscars was a dream come true for several people in the room. He thanked the Academy for inviting him to be a part of the ceremony when the world finally got out of the house to watch the films they had worked hard to make.

Following this, he took a dig at Nicole Kidman. Kimmel said that he was glad to see that Kidman was finally released from the "abandoned AMC where she was held captive" for nearly two whole years.

The comedian went on to thank her for encouraging people who were already at the theater to go to the movie theater.

As Jimmy made the joke, the camera turned towards Nicole Kidman and she was seen laughing at it with her husband Keith Urban.

---

Nicole Kidman's AMC Theater was part of a campaign to encourage people to go back to watch films in the theater

As the world reeled under the havoc of the COVID-19 pandemic, theaters shut down and re-oped in 2021 with all necessary precautions. However, people were still wary of going back to the theaters due to the social distancing rules.

In 2021, AMC came up with a commercial starring the Big Little Lies star. It was a part of a campaign to encourage people to go back to watching cinemas in theaters.

In the advertisement, The Others actor was seen sitting in the cinema hall all alone and talking about the experience of watching movies in the theater. She even says that heartbreaks too feel good in a place like a theater.

The advertisement ran in the AMC theater for two years and also became a meme. In October 2022, Saturday Night Live did a funny sketch on it and left people laughing at it.

After all this, in an interview with GQ, Kidman said that she wasn't sure why she did the advertisement or why it went viral. However, she did note that the reaction was a direct result of people going back to the theaters to watch movies, which she said was exciting.

It is to be noted that while the commercial isn't running in AMC theaters anymore, it surely hasn't gone from Jimmy Kimmel's memory.