Jimmy Kimmel will remain at Disney for at least another year.
Kimmel has extended his deal with Disney to host ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for an additional year, bringing his contract through May 2027, an individual with knowledge told TheWrap.
The contract extension comes just months after the late night host was embroiled in controversy earlier this fall due to his comments regarding Charlie Kirk’s murder, which took him off the air for nearly a week.
The controversy kicked off on Sept. 17, when ABC announced “‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ will be pre-empted indefinitely” following the talk show host’s comments about Kirk’s killer on the Monday broadcast. “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said at the time.
The suspension, which extended through affiliate stations owned and operated by Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcasting, kicked off multiple days of conversations between Disney leadership and Kimmel’s representatives before Disney announced he would be returning to air the following Tuesday.
Even before the controversy this fall, Kimmel had hinted that he might be leaving the late night game behind, saying in early 2024, “I think this is my final contract,” and subsequently adding that 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.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” has been on the air since 2003, outpacing “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” which celebrated their 10-year anniversaries last year.
