Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel returned to the spotlight this week with a monologue fixated on the surprise success of the new documentary Melania. Instead of brushing off its box-office figures, Kimmel openly questioned how the film managed to gross about $7 million in its opening weekend, suggesting the reported numbers didn’t match what audiences actually looked like in theaters. He floated the idea that blocks of tickets may have been bought in bulk and distributed to supporters—a phrasing he framed jokingly but with a clear skepticism about the film’s reported success.

Kimmel leaned into satire, pointing out that Melania’s critic score on Rotten Tomatoes was overwhelmingly low while its audience score was unusually high, a contrast he used to poke fun at how the documentary’s reception was being portrayed. He even said the film’s audience score was “higher than The Godfather,” and mock-called for an investigation into the ticket sales, riffing on political distrust and past claims of rigged outcomes in a tongue-in-cheek manner.

While much of the comedy was delivered with Kimmel’s characteristic sarcasm, the segment marked a shift from casual joking to a more pointed confirmation that he and many viewers are skeptical of the narrative surrounding Melania Trump’s documentary. By publicly questioning the film’s performance and joking about hosting the Oscars if it ever got nominated, Kimmel has cemented that “what we suspected” isn’t just a passing joke but part of his ongoing commentary on the media and politics of the moment.