WASHINGTON — With the Oscars less than a week away, Jimmy Kimmel has only two things on his mind: Writing jokes and working to fit in his tuxedo.
"Well, there are only two ways to prepare for the broadcast," Kimmel said in comments shared by the Academy Awards. "One of them is to write a ton of jokes, and the other one is to try to fit into your tuxedo. So I've been writing and starving."
The 95th Academy Awards is quite the task for Kimmel, who is hosting for a third time, as it's the first show to follow Will Smith slapping then-presenter Chris Rock during the live broadcast. Smith, who went on to win Best Actor that night, was banned from the Oscars for 10 years as a result.
The late-night show host isn't a stranger to chaotic moments at the Oscars. During his first time hosting the Academy Awards in 2017, Kimmel navigated the unexpected moments where the wrong Best Picture was announced.
Kimmel's second time hosting the Oscars came just months after the start of the #MeToo movement that rocked the entertainment industry.
"I think you just want to be ready for anything," Kimmel recently explained. "And you never obviously don't know when something crazy might happen. And crazy things seem to be happening a lot lately. So I just want the opportunity, if something crazy happens, to be able to be on stage to comment on said crazy thing."
Following Smith's actions at last year's Oscars, the Academy is enlisting the help of a "crisis team" to deal with unexpected events. Speaking on "The Slap," Kimmel told PEOPLE he is still shocked that the incident even happened but commended Rock's response in the moment.
"To see something like that happen outside of like The Maury Povich Show is shocking. And then for it to happen on the Oscars magnifies it by about a million times," Kimmel told PEOPLE. "I mean, to be slapped in the face and to stay that cool is something that Chris should be proud of."
Regardless of what's to come at the 2023 Oscars, Kimmel told PEOPLE that he will "give it 110 percent."
The 95th Academy Awards will air live on ABC on Sunday, Mar. 12, at 8 p.m. ET.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.