Robert Downey Jr calls Jimmy Kimmel 'a national treasure' in response to a joke about him at the Oscars

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Robert Downey Jr apparently did not make a fuss about the joke that Jimmy Kimmel cracked on him during the 2024 Oscars. The Hollywood star, who turned 59 on April 4, appeared on the cover of Esquire's spring 2024 issue where the Academy Award-winning actor spoke about his career, upbringing, and relationship with his wife Susan Downey.

The 'Oppenheimer' star also responded to Oscar host Kimmel's joke about Downey Jr he made during his monologue at March's 96th Oscars ceremony where he mocked the actor's past struggles with addiction by calling the evening "one of the highest points" of the his career.

Robert Downey Jr's response to Jimmy Kimmel's joke

Downey Jr seemed to take the joke on a light note at that moment as he laughed along with the crowd and pointed to his nose before pantomiming a request to "keep it moving" when cameras panned to him. “I don’t care. I love Jimmy Kimmel," Downey Jr told Esquire when asked about the joke hours after the Oscars. "I think he’s a national treasure," he added.

Robert Downey Jr won his first Oscar this year

Downey Jr won his first-career Oscar just hours after Kimmel's monologue during the March 10 awards ceremony for his role in 'Oppenheimer' in which he played Lewis Strauss opposite Cillian Murphy's J Robert Oppenheimer.

The actor later said he has "a couple other tricks up my sleeve" following his Oscar-winning role in Christopher Nolan's 2023 blockbuster biopic. He also spoke highly about his night at the Academy Awards with his wife Susan, 50, whom he said "loved me back to life" onstage while accepting the Best Actor award.

"We just said, let's just check in [with each other] tonight, because it was like, you know what this feels like? It's like our wedding night," Downey Jr told People that night. 

"There's this thing where there's all this stuff going on and it is in a lot of ways for other people," he added. "But the best part of the night — sorry, world — was there was a commercial break and we just touched heads, like two dinosaurs that were letting each other know that we were a couple. And it was great," he continued.

Downey Jr will next star in HBO's miniseries 'The Sympathizer' which begins airing April 14. According to the actor's IMDb page, follow-up projects include an in-the-works third Sherlock Holmes movie and a role in the upcoming Jamie Foxx movie 'All-Star Weekend.'