Film

Nick Kroll And John Mulaney Roasted Trump, Mel Gibson In Their Hilarious Indie Spirit Speech

"If this room leaned any further to the left we would literally topple into the Pacific Ocean."

by Tom Clift  27 February 2017

Want more Junkee in your life? Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook so you always know where to find us.

Oscars emcee Jimmy Kimmel has a hell of a lot to live up to, following the knockout job done by Nick Kroll and John Mulaney at yesterday’s Film Independent Spirit Awards.

“This is a great event,” remarked Kroll. “We like to think of these awards as the ones without Mel Gibson. People wondered how long it would take Hollywood to forgive someone for anti-Semitic racist hate speech. The answer? Eight years!”

“Look out for the 2024 Oscars, when the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award goes to Mr. Steve Bannon,” added Mulaney, taking aim at President Trump’s chief advisor.

“The only reason [Bannon] got that job is because he’s so hot,” said Kroll. “In this country if you’re that sexy you get anything you want. Steve Bannon’s so hot, he looks like if Nick Offerman drowned.”

Related

That wasn’t their only joke at the expense of the current administration. Poking fun at Trump’s Twitter use as well as the depressing subject matter that tends to be favoured by indie filmmakers, Mulaney quipped that this year’s nominees were, “to quote the president, ‘sad, exclamation point'”.

They also made fun of how political movie award shows tend to get. “Some of you might take the opportunity today to make a political statement in your speech,” said Kroll. “And that is your right,” added Mulaney. “But bear in mind that we are on IFC and these are the Spirit Awards, so in terms of impact you could give your speech directly into camera, or you could whisper it to yourself in the bathroom.”

To finish things off, the pair quoted indie film luminaries Werner Herzog, David Lynch and Vincent Gallo. To put it mildly…things got weird.