ABC has officially decided to keep Jimmy Kimmel around for at least one more year — because apparently, nothing says “quality programming” like suspending your own host for smearing conservatives and then renewing his contract anyway. According to reports, Jimmy Kimmel Live! will stay on the Disney-owned network through May 2027, a decision that was quietly made months ago but conveniently kept under wraps.
Kimmel, now 58, informed his staff this week that the show had been renewed. Bloomberg reported the news, noting that ABC and Disney held off on announcing the deal “out of respect” for Stephen Colbert’s upcoming exit in 2026. Yes, because nothing is more respectful than hiding your own contract extension so you don’t overshadow your buddy’s retirement announcement.
But the timing got even messier after Kimmel found himself at the center of well-deserved backlash in September. The comedian suggested Republicans were trying to “capitalize” on Charlie Kirk’s tragic death — and even implied the killer might have been a MAGA conservative. Classy, right? ABC didn’t think so. The network suspended him just hours after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr reminded them that they could handle this “the easy or the hard way.” Let’s just say ABC chose the easy way.
Nexstar and Sinclair, which together own more than 60 ABC affiliates, also yanked Kimmel off their stations. Hard to ignore when you need the FCC to approve a multi-billion-dollar acquisition. Meanwhile, left-wing politicians and journalists threw their usual fit, insisting ABC was caving to the Trump administration. Apparently, accountability is only a virtue when it’s applied to conservatives.
Kimmel returned to the air on September 23, claiming he never meant to “make light” of a young man’s murder — though he skipped over the part where a normal person would apologize. But controversy does sell, and Kimmel enjoyed his biggest late-night audience ever afterward, averaging about 1.9 million viewers during the third quarter. Even so, that barely placed him second among the three major late-night hosts. Quite the accomplishment.
President Trump hasn’t held back either. After Kimmel took a cheap shot claiming Trump “loses his mind” when asked about the Epstein files, Trump fired back, wondering why ABC keeps a “man with NO TALENT and VERY POOR TELEVISION RATINGS” on the air. A fair question — and one millions of Americans have been asking for years.
Kimmel, who has been on the network since 2003 and somehow managed to host the Oscars four times, is also the face of the rebooted Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. Yet despite the fancy résumé, his show — like most late-night TV — continues bleeding viewers as audiences flee for social media. Viral clips just don’t pay the bills anymore, and hundreds of staffers have already been trimmed down over the years.
But hey — ABC still thinks he’s worth renewing. And if nothing else, it’s a reminder that no matter how far TV ratings fall or how aggressively a host attacks conservatives, some networks will keep signing the checks. The good news? Americans always choose real leadership in the end — and that’s something worth staying optimistic about.
