Jimmy Kimmel Unpacks Oscars: 'Naked' Cena Panic, Trump Tantrum, Missing Messi

The bulk of Kimmel's monologue was about Sunday night's Oscars television, which somehow both started five minutes early and then had extra time at the end. That's as much a miracle as keeping John Cena's statuette from making an appearance.

Actually, it took a lot of work to keep Cena within the guidelines of Standards & Practices -- so as to avoid any FCC fines and minimize complaints -- as well as some cajoling on the part of Kimmel and his team to let the bit happen at all.

Cena's "naked" presentation wasn't just random, either, as this year marked the 50th anniversary of the infamous Oscars streaker, who showed way more than anyone was trying to show during Sunday night's show -- and more than anyone wanted to see 50 years ago.

"Of all the times I've hosted the Oscars or the Emmys or whatever, no comedy bit has received more scrutiny than this one," Kimmel said. "There were meeting and side meetings and emails and texts and phone calls. There were people sweating, somebody was crying."

"Then, once they realized we weren't going to take no for an answer, there were intense discussions about the envelope, whether we needed to Velcro it to John's body," Kimmel continued. He even showed the massive envelope he claims producers wanted to use instead of the standard-sized one that made it to air.

Rob Mills, the executive vice president of unscripted and alternative entertainment at Walt Disney Television, talked with Variety about the lengths they had to go to get this segment through the network's S&P.

"I’m going to educate you a little here," Mills told the outlet about the expectations. "A bulge cannot be showing, and you can’t show crack. It was also, ’What happens if he drops that card?’ So, we made sure that, for all intents and purposes, he looked like a Ken doll up front. His crack was covered in the back and then the envelope was Velcro-ed on there so it wouldn’t fall."

"But beyond that, he was naked."

That's how Kimmel's guest, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson found his fellow WWE Superstar backstage. He called it a "crazy moment," seeing "naked" Cena backstage. "You really missed an opportunity to promote Wrestlemania by attacking each other in that moment," Kimmel quipped.

"A half-naked John Cena isn't the guy who I want to attack in that moment," The Rock shot back. "I need him fully naked before I attack him."

One moment that wouldn't have happened had it not been for that extra time the show banked as it progressed was Kimmel reading from former president Donald Trump's actual post trashing the show on Truth Social.

As it turns out, it might have not happened had Kimmel listened to his producer, Molly McNearney, who also happens to be an EP on Jimmy Kimmel Live! ... and Jimmy Kimmel's wife.

"I will tell you, I’m really not proud of this, but I tried to talk Jimmy out of reading that," she confessed to Variety. "I feel like my instincts are usually right, but I was totally off on that. I said, 'Please don't read this.' And he asked why. I said, 'I don't want to give Trump airtime in the Oscars. This is the one time we don't have to talk about him."

"My second thought was just the risk, like the show was going well! I just wanted to make sure it ended well, and I didn't want it to end on a sour note," she continued. "But he had a glimmer in his eye, and he said, 'I got this.' He really did. This is where he shines."

After coming up with the retort, "Isn't it past your jail time?" McNearney admitted that the joke killed in the room, and lamented, "I'm never going to win an argument in my household again."

One of the show's biggest highlights for fans at home was the appearances of Messi, the breakout dog star of Anatomy of a Fall. Fans at home got to see Messi twice during the broadcast, but it turns out he wasn't actually there live. And there's a good reason for that.

"Our plan was to have him sitting in the audience throughout the show, including my monologue," Kimmel recalled. There was just one problem. "We did a rehearsal, the dog was barking like crazy the whole time -- because he's a dog -- which was making it hard to tell jokes. It was really funny."

While they considered just going with it for the sheer random chaos and humor of it, Kimmel admitted it "wouldn't have been great for the 'In Memoriam' montage."