On Sunday night, the 2023 Academy Awards had an extra special guest join them — and that was Jenny the Donkey, the sidekick to Colin Farrell’s character, Pádraic in “The Banshees of Inisherin.”
Shortly before the Oscar for best costume design was presented, host Jimmy Kimmel brought out the real star of the show, Jenny.
Kimmel held the miniature donkey by her leash, as she trotted out wearing a red bowtie and a bedazzled vest that signified her role as an emotional support animal.
“Not only is Jenny an actress, she’s a certified emotional support donkey, or at least, that’s what we told the airline to get her on the plane from Ireland,” Kimmel joked onstage.
He continued, making a shout-out to actors Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, who starred in the movie “The Banshees of Inisherin.”
“So if you’re feeling upset that you didn’t win, or you’re anxious, or you maybe just love mules, feel free to come up and give her a hug,” Kimmel said. “Jenny I want you to see, there’s your friend Colin is right there, and there’s your friend Brendon who’s finger you ate — you want to say thank you?”
As the camera panned to Farrell, he was spotted with a huge smile on his face, blowing the donkey a kiss, which became the subject of memes on Twitter.
“I want Colin Farrell to look at me like he looked at jenny the donkey,” one person wrote.
Another agreed, tweeting, “Colin Farrell’s face when they brought out Jenny the donkey is perhaps the purest thing anyone will see this year.”
Someone else chided, “The #Oscars really said they won’t give colin farrell an oscar so we’ll give him jenny the donkey instead.”
Others were taken by the donkey herself, joking that she should have won the award for best supporting actress.
“There’s been a mistake, jenny the donkey has won best supporting actress,” one user cracked, tweeting a picture of Jordan Horowitz holding up the Oscar slip after he had a mix-up for best picture in 2017.
“Still not over Jenny the donkey being brought on,” another Oscar viewer wrote. “My queen #Oscars.”
Of course, the donkey wasn’t really Jenny from the film. “Banshees of Inisherin” director Martin McDonagh told the Los Angeles Times that the jackass was an impostor.
“It wasn’t Jenny. We never would have allowed that to happen,” he said.
“No! All the way from Ireland?” Kerry Condon said. “‘Course not!”