It was announced on Monday that ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel signed a one-year contract extension to remain at the network until at least May 2027, and when he took to the air that night, Kimmel made it obvious that a big reason why was to continue going after President Trump.
After reading a Truth Social post from Trump where he blasted 60 Minutes’s interview with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kimmel sarcastically retorted, “Well, I'm sorry you feel that way about 60 Minutes, and the last thing I want to do is upset you during this sensitive time, but I have one more bit of entertainment news to share, and that is I have decided to extend my contract here at ABC for another year.”
Kimmel had previously mused on multiple occasions about retirement. However, Kimmel and his wife, Molly McNearney, who also serves as a writer and executive producer on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, have an overinflated view of their own importance to the future of democracy.
They view Kimmel as a free speech martyr who won the battle with the Trump Administration back in September after he was suspended for conspiracy theorizing about the political identity of Charlie Kirk’s assassin and view it as their civic duty to continue that fight and not make it seem as if Trump bullied him off the air. The fact that Kimmel believes CBS counterpart Stephen Colbert is also a free speech martyr who will be cancelled in May of next year likely only reinforces his belief.
It is not the first time either. Back in 2017, the media was all about the idea that Kimmel was America’s “conscience” as he ripped Republicans and the first Trump Administration for not agreeing with him about the economics of health insurance, while choosing to portray the debate as between one side that cared about people and one that didn’t.
Ironically, Kimmel’s contract renewal proves that all the hysterical warnings about fascism coming to America as Trump goes after his media critics are just that: hysteria.
Here is a transcript for the December 8-taped show:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
12/9/2025
12:45 AM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: Well, I'm sorry you feel that way about 60 Minutes, and the last thing I want to do is upset you during this sensitive time, but I have one more bit of entertainment news to share, and that is I have decided to extend my contract here at ABC for another year.
Please, sit, sit, it's embarrassing, but our show has been renewed to May of 2027 or until the world ends, whichever comes first, but I thought about it. I decided and given a lot of thought and decided I would like to spend less time with my family and so to our audience here and at home I'm honored and humbled to be part of your routine whether it's in bed at time or during your morning toilet time, it means a lot to me to have your attention and work with this great group of people for another year.
