ABC denied a report that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will come to an end once the late night host’s current contract expires in 2027.
Though Page Six reported that Kimmel’s contract would not be renewed past its expiry next year, ABC brushed off the information as “inaccurate,” telling media, “any reports about the future of the show at this point are purely speculative.”
The report — and denial thereof — comes as Kimmel prepares to return to the late night show following his usual summer hiatus.
Like past summers, Kimmel and ABC enlisted a suite of guest hosts to take over hosting duties, which, this year, included Tiffany Haddish, Anthony Anderson, Ike Barinholtz, Colman Domingo, Rosie O’Donnell and Jelly Roll.
Of those, O’Donnell made the biggest splash, ranking as the highest-rated summer substitute with an average total viewership of 2.17 million and a demo viewership of 237,000 viewers for the week of Aug. 17.
Kimmel extended his deal with Disney to host ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in December 2025, bringing his contract through May 2027. By then, Kimmel will have marked 24 years on the air after debuting in 2003.
That contract extension happened just months after his comments regarding the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk stirred up controversy that took him off the air for nearly a week.
He joked during Disney’s upfronts earlier this year that he’s been quite a liability for Disney, saying he’s cost them “a lot of money this year, billions.”
“It is very possible that no employee in the history of any company has cost their employer more,” he said. “Hiring me 24 years ago, just from a purely mathematical standpoint, was the worst personnel decision that Disney Corporation has ever made.”
But Kimmel has hinted at leaving late night long before being under the right’s microscope. He said in early 2024, “I think this is my final contract,” but added viewers might laugh at that statement because every time he announces his impending exit, “it turns out not to be the case.”
“I still have a little more than two years left on my contract, and that seems pretty good. That seems like enough,” Kimmel said in 2024.
