Photo: Mike FANOUS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty, Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty
Jimmy Kimmeldid not shy away from joking about a controversial topics at Sunday’s2023 Oscarsceremony — including the recentdeathof actorRobert Blake.
In between awards during at the 95th Academy Awards, the 55-year-old late-night host claimed to be introducing an “interactive part of the show” ahead of the annualIn Memoriam segment.
“Everybody please get out your phones, even at home, it’s time to vote,” Kimmel told the audience.
“If you think Robert Blake should be part of the In Memoriam montage, text ‘GIMME-A-Blake’ to the number on your screen, or to any number,” he added, in reference to the television and film actor, who died at age 89 on Thursday.
“Text that to your mother if you like. Message and data rates may apply,” the host added, drawing laughs from the audience.
Jimmy Kimmel.Kevin Winter/Getty
Bakley, a 44-year-old mother of four, was fatally shot on May 4, 2001, in Blake’s car, which was parked around the corner from an Italian restaurant where the couple had just dined near their home in Studio City, California. At the time, Blake told authorities he’d left his wife alone while he returned to the restaurant to retrieve a gun he claimed had fallen out of his clothing, which authorities determined was not used in the killing.
Mike FANOUS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty
Nearly a year later, police arrested him. At his trial, prosecutors cited the statements of two retired stuntmen who alleged to authorities that Blake had attempted to hire them as hit men — an allegation the defense attacked as unreliable.
Jurors deliberated eight days before finding Blake not guilty, and the actor continued to maintain his innocence for years after Bakley’s killing.
In 2019, Blake’s daughter Rose Lenorespoke to PEOPLEabout her “traumatic childhood” following the death of her mother.
“I kind of didn’t know where she was buried for the longest time,” she said at the time. “I could have just looked it up, but I didn’t. I just don’t think I was ready. And then when I was 18, I was like, ‘I’m ready. I want to go visit her.’ "
“I’ve dealt with my fair share of sadness in life,” she added. “But I know I’m going to be okay.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
source: people.com
