Jimmy Kimmel Describes 'Intense Discussions About the Size of the Envelope' to Cover John Cena at Oscars 2024

"Very rarely does an idea literally push the envelope, and this one did," Kimmel said Monday in his first post-Oscars monologue on his late-night show

Jimmy Kimmel is revealing some of the nuts and bolts behind John Cena's unforgettable Oscars 2024 appearance.

During his monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Monday following his Academy Awards hosting gig the previous night, Kimmel, 56, said that the body-baring moment from Cena, 46, came as Kimmel's team "wanted to do something to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Oscars streaker."

"Remember the guy who ran naked across the stage?" he said. "So I asked John Cena to present the Oscar for Best Costume Design with no clothes on, just an envelope in front of him."

And while the actor and wrestler was "very funny" during the bit, "Getting this on the air ... of all the times I've hosted the Oscars or the Emmys or anything, no comedy bit has ever received more scrutiny than this one," Kimmel admitted.

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Related: Oscars 2024 Producers Break Down John Cena's Nude Moment: 'We Made Sure' He 'Looked Like a Ken Doll Up Front'

"There were meetings and side meetings, there were emails and texts and phone calls. There were people were sweating; somebody was crying," he went on.

"Then once they realized we weren't gonna take no for an answer, there were intense discussions about the size of the envelope and whether we needed to Velcro it to John's body, [whether] we had to fill his crack and [have] socks. Various testicalia was discussed," Kimmel joked.

After bringing out the giant envelope they were originally were going to use to cover Cena's front and showing it to the audience, Kimmel congratulated Cena for "the commotion [he] caused."

"Very rarely does an idea literally push the envelope, and this one did," the comedian and late-night host added.

Kimmel concluded with, "And I want to apologize for nearly killing our department of standards and practices," after joking earlier that the S&P department actually stood for "scrotum & penis."

Related: John Cena Wasn't Actually Naked at the 2024 Oscars — See the Backstage Pics That Prove It

Appearing au naturel on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, to present the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, the Birkenstock sandal-clad Cena had only the category’s envelope covering his crotch.

“We made sure that, for all intents and purposes, he looked like a Ken doll up front,” Walt Disney Television executive VP Rob Mills told Variety. (Fittingly, Cena starred in the hit 2023 film Barbie as a Ken doll merman, opposite Dua Lipa's Mermaid Barbie.)

Cena’s “crack,” Mills added, “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.”

Per the executive, “a bulge cannot be showing, and you can’t show crack” when it comes to the Federal Communications Commission’s rules about what can be shown on live television.

“It was also, ’What happens if he drops that card?’ ” Mills added.

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