Jimmy Kimmel lifted Sunny Pawar up as The Lion King soundtrack played in the background.
Highlights
- Jimmy Kimmel lifted Sunny Pawar up during the 89th Academy Awards
- It was a nod to Rafiki holding Simba up in the Disney classic, The Lion K
- Many netizens found the incident to be racist
In a nod to the 1994 classic
The Lion King, talk show host Jimmy Kimmel lifted up Lion star Sunny Pawar at the Academy Awards - and both the Dolby Theatre and social media erupted. When Kimmel asked a cute-as-a-button Sunny Pawar if he had enjoyed
The Lion King, the latter replied in the affirmative. Kimmel then proceeded to lift the 8-year-old up, in a moment reminiscent of Rafiki holding up Simba in the movie, as
The Lion King soundtrack filled the auditorium.
The exchange between the two won them both many fans on social media, and you can watch it here:
Some people loved
The Lion King recreation.
However, many came out to say that they found the moment racist and weird.
Some others, however, tried to counter the racism narrative by saying that there was nothing racist about the Kimmel-Pawar Lion King moment, pointing out that Pawar worked in a movie called
Lion:
Lion is the story of a 5-year-old boy, Saroo, who gets lost in Kolkata and has to fend for himself before he is adopted by an Australian couple. Mumbai kid Sunny Pawar essays the role of the younger Saroo in the movie.
Did you find
The Lion King moment problematic? Let us know in the comments section below.