Malala Yousafzai responds to awkward Jimmy Kimmel exchange at Oscars 2023

Malala Yousafzai: Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai was in attendance at the 95th Academy Awards where she elegantly tackled a humorous question by host Jimmy Kimmel.

During a break at the Oscars ceremony, Kimmel walked up to Yousafzai in the audience and read out a fan question. It went, “Your work on human rights and education for women and children is an inspiration. As the youngest Nobel prize winner in history, do you think Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine?”

The question, drawing awkward laughs around the room, was in reference to #spitgate, an online controversy sparked off by a viral video showing Harry Styles seemingly spitting on his Don’t Worry Darling co-star Chris Pine at the 2022 Venice Film Festival.

Malala, while appearing a little fazed by Kimmel’s joke, quickly responded, “I only talk about peace.”

rs on March 12, 2023 | Photo Credit: John Locher

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai was in attendance at the 95th Academy Awards where she elegantly tackled a humorous question by host Jimmy Kimmel.

During a break at the Oscars ceremony, Kimmel walked up to Yousafzai in the audience and read out a fan question. It went, “Your work on human rights and education for women and children is an inspiration. As the youngest Nobel prize winner in history, do you think Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine?”

The question, drawing awkward laughs around the room, was in reference to #spitgate, an online controversy sparked off by a viral video showing Harry Styles seemingly spitting on his Don’t Worry Darling co-star Chris Pine at the 2022 Venice Film Festival.

Malala, while appearing a little fazed by Kimmel’s joke, quickly responded, “I only talk about peace.”

Later during the show, things turned more awkward for Malala, as someone dressed in a ‘Cocaine Bear’ suit strode up the aisles and reportedly pestered the 25-year-old activist.

The internet responded strongly to Malala’s treatment at the Oscars, with some accusing Kimmel of disrespecting the global peace icon.

Malala, however, reshared a video of her exchange with Kimmel on Twitter and wrote, “Treat people with kindness.”

Malala is a Pakistan-born female education activist who was shot and wounded by the Taliban in 2012. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her courage and advocacy, becoming the world’s youngest Nobel Laureate.

Stranger at the Gate, a documentary executive-produced by Malala and focusing on an ex-US Marine who is accepted by his local Muslim community, was nominated for Best Documentary Short Film at the 2023 Oscars.

In 2014 he was the corecipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, along with teenage Pakistani education advocate Malala Yousafzai, “for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.”

For the right of every child to receive an education

Malala Yousafzai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her fight for the right of every child to receive an education. She was born in the Swat Valley in Pakistan. When the Islamic Taliban movement took control of the valley in 2008, girls’ schools were burned down. Malala kept a diary of the events, which was published in 2009 by BBC Urdu. In her diary she spoke out against the Taliban’s terrorist regime. An American documentary film made Malala internationally famous.

It was not long before the Taliban threatened her life. In 2012, Malala was shot in the head on a school bus by a Taliban gunman. She survived, but had to flee to England and live in exile there because a fatwa was issued against her.

In 2013, TIME magazine named Malala one of “The 100 Most Influential People in the World.” On her 16th birthday she spoke in the United Nations. In her speech Malala called for the equal right to education for girls all over the world, and became a symbol of this cause.

Why was Malala at Oscars 2023

The Pakistani activist was nominated in the documentary short category as an executive producer on “Stranger at the Gate.” (“The Elephant Whisperers” ultimately won the Oscar.)

How many awards did Malala get

In 2014, she was the co-recipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, with Kailash Satyarthi of India. Aged 17 at the time, she was the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. In 2015, she was the subject of the Oscar-shortlisted documentary He Named Me Malala.

Who was the youngest Nobel Prize winner

In 2014, aged just 17, Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan became the Youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner – and the Youngest Nobel Prize winner outright. That’s impressive enough in itself, but the background to Malala’s win makes her feat all the more remarkable.

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