Hollywood rolled out the red carpet for its biggest stars on Sunday, but television viewers largely ignored the glamor and glitz parade by sending the ratings for the Academy Awards to a record-low viewership of 26.5 million people.
According to Nielsen, that’s a drop of 20 percent from 2017, when 33 million watched the Jimmy Kimmel-hosted extravaganza. It’s the first time the Oscars have drawn fewer than 30 million people and the fewest since another comedian, Jon Stewart, hosted the 2008 show.
Observers blame the best picture winner,”The Shape of Water,” which grossed just $57.4 million at the U.S. box office, but politics likely also played a role as the anti-Trump Kimmel–who also hosted the 2017 show took the opportunity to throw a few jabs at the Trump administration.
“None other than President Trump called ‘Get Out’ the best 3/4 of a movie so far this year,” Kimmel said, referencing the screenwriter of the film, Jordan Peele.
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