So Was Jenny the Donkey Actually At the Oscars?

If there is one donkey to stan after this award season, it is Jenny. Sorry to the donkey from EO but I don’t know you. Jenny was a star in the movie The Banshees of Inisherin and while she made me cry with her love for Colin Farrell, she became an icon. Farrell often talked about working with her and she just became the star of the movie.

But she is a donkey. So for most of the press tour, Jenny stayed home and didn’t make the trip to come be the star that she is over in America. The Oscars, however, seemed like the prime time for Jenny to make her Hollywood award show debut and we thought for one brief moment that that is what happened to her. Because Jimmy Kimmel came out on stage with a donkey in tow and told us that it was Jenny. There was even a bit where Farrell waved at her.

And yet it seems as if it was a lie fabricated by Hollywood to give us a false sense of hope for a reunion between Farrell and Jenny once more. It really gives off the energy of Leslie seeing Lil Sebastian right before she’s meant to marry Ben Wyatt in Parks and Recreation for me. And much like Leslie, I’m going to pretend that it was Jenny—even though I know it is not.

Vulture did the work to figure out whether or not Jenny was actually flown in from Ireland to make an appearance…

Not my Jenny

When Kimmell walked on stage, he introduced this imposter to the crowd. “This is Jenny. She’s one of the stars of The Banshees of Inisherin,” Kimmel said, lying to a room of people, including her co-stars from the film. “Not only is Jenny an actor, but she is a certified emotional-support donkey. Or at least that’s what we told the airline to get her on the plane from Ireland.”

Vulture learned a shocking revelation about the donkey though: It was “just a random donkey.” Now look, on the one hand, I’m glad they didn’t fly out a donkey just for a bit but on the other hand we have video capabilities. You could have zoomed Jenny in! I don’t want to be lied to about Jenny. Granted, she’s living her best retired life post The Banshees of Inisherin.

In an interview with Vulture, Rita Moloney (who works for Fircroft Animal Actors) told the publication that director and writer Martin McDonagh was so in love with her that he didn’t want Jenny to ever have to work again. “Martin fell so in love with her that he never wanted her to work again. He asked if she could just do this movie and then retire. Now she’s just a happy donkey running with other miniature donkeys. I only saw her about three weeks ago down in County Carlow, and she’s looking fine, fit, and healthy. She’s just living the dream.”

So sadly, that was not our Jenny. YOU FRAUD.

(featured image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)