Radio career Inspired by
David Letterman's start in radio, Kimmel began working in radio while in high school. He was the host of a Sunday night interview show on
UNLV's college station,
KUNV. While attending
Arizona State University, he became a popular caller to the
KZZP-FM afternoon show hosted by radio personalities Mike Elliott and
Kent Voss in
Phoenix, Arizona. In 1989, Kimmel landed his first paying job alongside Voss as morning drive co-host of
The Me and Him Show at
KZOK-FM in Seattle, Washington. Over the next 10 months, the hosts performed several stunts on air, including one that led to the loss of an $8,000 advertising contract with the
Seattle Mariners. In 1990, Kimmel and Voss were fired by KZOK and were fired again a year later at
WRBQ-FM in
Tampa. Kimmel went on to host his own show at
KCMJ in
Palm Springs, California, where he recruited as his intern
Carson Daly, who had been a family friend since his childhood. After a morning stint at
KRQQ in
Tucson, Arizona, Kimmel landed at
KROQ-FM in Los Angeles. He spent five years as "Jimmy The Sports Guy" for the
Kevin and Bean morning show. During that time, he met and befriended the comedian
Adam Carolla.
Comedy Central Kimmel initially did not want to do television; he began writing for
Fox announcers and promotions and was quickly recruited to do the on-air promotions himself. He declined several offers for television shows from producer
Michael Davies, being uninterested in the projects, until he was offered a place as the comedic counterpart to
Ben Stein on the game show ''
Win Ben Stein's Money'', which began airing on
Comedy Central in 1997. His quick wit and "
everyman" personality were counterpoints to Stein's monotonous vocal style and faux-
patrician demeanor. The combination earned the pair an
Emmy award for Best Game Show Host.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! was created as a permanent replacement for
Politically Incorrect, which ABC canceled in June 2002 following widespread condemnation and advertiser boycotts over host
Bill Maher's comments during the political panel talk show's first new episode after the
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks suggesting that the perpetrators were not cowards (contravening remarks made by then-President
George W. Bush the day prior to the broadcast), whereas "[American leaders had] been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away". In April 2007, Stuffmagazine.com named Kimmel the "biggest badass on TV". Kimmel said it was an honor, but clearly a mistake. Despite its name, the show has not actually aired live since 2004, when censors were unable to properly
bleep censor a curse word from
Thomas Jane. During the
2004 NBA Finals in Detroit, Kimmel appeared on ABC's halftime show to make an on-air plug for his show. He suggested that if the
Detroit Pistons defeated the
Los Angeles Lakers, "they're gonna burn the city of Detroit down ... and it's not worth it." Officials with Detroit's ABC affiliate,
WXYZ-TV, immediately announced that that night's show would not air on the station. Hours later, ABC officials pulled that night's show from the entire network. Kimmel later apologized. In a
running gag that lasted for years, Kimmel would end his show with "My apologies to
Matt Damon, we ran out of time." When Matt Damon did actually appear on the show to be interviewed in 2006, he walked in and sat down only to be told just a few seconds later by Kimmel, "Unfortunately, we are totally out of time," followed by "my apologies to Matt Damon." Damon appeared angry, but both performers have since indicated that
their faux-feud is a joke. In February 2008, Kimmel showed a mock music video with a panoply of stars called "
I'm Fucking Ben Affleck" as "revenge" after his then-girlfriend
Sarah Silverman and Damon recorded a similar video titled "
I'm Fucking Matt Damon". Silverman's video originally aired on
Jimmy Kimmel Live! going viral on
YouTube. Kimmel's "revenge" video featured himself,
Ben Affleck, and a large lineup of stars, particularly in scenes spoofing the 1985 "
We Are the World" video:
Christina Applegate,
Lance Bass,
Don Cheadle,
Lauren Conrad,
Cameron Diaz,
Perry Farrell,
Harrison Ford,
Macy Gray,
Josh Groban,
Joan Jett,
Dom Joly,
Huey Lewis,
Benji Madden and
Joel Madden from
Good Charlotte,
Meat Loaf,
Christopher Mintz-Plasse,
Dominic Monaghan,
Brad Pitt,
Rebecca Romijn,
Mike Shinoda,
Pete Wentz, and
Robin Williams, among others. Afterwards, Kimmel's sidekick,
Guillermo Rodriguez, appeared in a spoof of
The Bourne Ultimatum, which starred Damon. He was then chased down by Damon, who was cursing about Kimmel being behind all this. Guillermo also stopped Damon on the red carpet one time and, before he could finish the interview, said, "Sorry, we are out of time." The most recent encounter was titled "The Handsome Men's Club" which featured Kimmel, along with the "Handsome Men", who were: Affleck,
Ted Danson,
Patrick Dempsey,
Taye Diggs,
Josh Hartnett,
Ethan Hawke,
John Krasinski,
Lenny Kravitz,
Rob Lowe,
Gilles Marini,
Matthew McConaughey,
Tony Romo,
Sting and
Keith Urban, speaking about being handsome and all the jobs that come with it. At the end of the skit, Kimmel has a door slammed in his face by Damon, who says they have run out of time and gives a sinister laugh.
Jennifer Garner makes a surprise appearance. As a tradition, celebrities voted off
Dancing with the Stars appear on
Jimmy Kimmel Live!, causing Kimmel to describe himself as "the
three-headed dog the stars must pass on their way to No-Dancing Hell." In October 2013, a segment titled "Kids Table" showcased five- and six-year-olds discussing the U.S. government shutdown and U.S. debts. When one of the children suggested "killing all the people in China" as a way of resolving the U.S. debt, Kimmel responded that it was "an interesting idea" and jokingly asked a follow-up: "Should we allow the Chinese to live?" In an October 25 letter to a group called the
80-20 Initiative, which identifies itself as a pan-Asian-American political organization, ABC apologized for the segment, saying "We would never purposefully broadcast anything to upset the Chinese community, Asian community, anyone of Chinese descent or any community at large." More than a hundred people took to the streets in
San Francisco on October 28 to protest the show and demand "a more elaborate apology" and that Kimmel be fired. Despite the apologies from ABC and Kimmel, protests continued. A
White House petition was created to investigate the incident and reached the 100,000 signatures needed to require a response from the White House. The
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus denounced the incident and demanded a formal apology from ABC. In the summer of 2020, during the wake of
George Floyd protests, Kimmel apologized for
blackface impressions of media magnate
Oprah Winfrey and basketball player
Karl Malone in
The Man Show, as well as using racial slurs in a 1996 song imitating
Snoop Dogg. Kimmel apologized, "I believe that I have evolved and matured over the last 20-plus years" and that "I know that this will not be the last I hear of this and that it will be used again to try to quiet me". While Kimmel and ABC had signed a three-year contract extension, running through the 2025–26 season, to continue his show in September 2022, he had considered ending the program just before the
2023 SAG-AFTRA and
Writers Guild of America strikes. During a November 2022 appearance on
Stitcher's
Naked Lunch podcast, Kimmel revealed that he told ABC executives, soon after the
2016 election of Donald Trump, that if he could not tell Trump jokes, then he would leave the show. It appears the executives once spoke to Kimmel about laying off Trump, not to alienate Republican viewers. Kimmel said ABC executives were right in their apprehension, as he estimates he lost around half of his audience due to Trump jokes. Kimmel and Trump's feud is years-long, dating back to at least 2015, when then-presidential candidate Trump cancelled a scheduled appearance on
Jimmy Kimmel Live!, citing a prior obligation. On his part, Kimmel has been a relentless critic of President Trump since his first term, declaring, "One of the most fun parts of my job is knowing that he hates being made fun of, and making fun of him." This culminated with Kimmel reading and mocking a
Truth Social post by then-presumptive Republican presidential nominee Trump at the closing of the
96th Academy Awards ceremony in March 2024. Kimmel defended
Stephen Colbert when his late talk show,
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, was cancelled, calling Paramount's cited reasons "nonsensical".
Suspension and reinstatement In his September 15, 2025, opening monologue, Kimmel commented on reactions to the
assassination of Charlie Kirk that "[w]e 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." At the time, the
FBI had not mentioned the shooter Tyler Robinson's "background, political leanings or a possible motive, saying the investigation was ongoing", though his mother had told prosecutors that he had shifted toward the political left and had become "more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented". Kimmel also compared Trump's reaction to Kirk's death to "a four-year-old mourning a goldfish".
The New York Times reported that Kimmel had planned to address the reaction to his "MAGA gang" comment on his September 17 show. and intended to defend his remark, with a source saying that it had been "grossly mischaracterized by a certain group of people". That same day,
FCC Chairman
Brendan Carr said on conservative
Benny Johnson's podcast that the comment was "some of the sickest conduct possible" and threatened regulatory action against ABC and
Disney, stating that "companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead." Hours later,
Nexstar Media Group announced that it would pull
Jimmy Kimmel Live! from all of its ABC-affiliated stations, and shortly after that ABC announced all broadcasts of the show would be halted "indefinitely". According to the
Times and
The Hollywood Reporter, the decision to suspend the show was made by
Bob Iger, the CEO of ABC's parent company Disney, and
Dana Walden, Disney's television chief. Following comments by President
Donald Trump backing Carr, Democratic Senator
Chris Murphy accused Trump of "using the power of the White House, in this case the power of his regulatory agencies, to try to shut down any speech that opposes him." Support for Kimmel was expressed by current and former late-night TV hosts, including
Stephen Colbert,
Jimmy Fallon,
Seth Meyers,
Jon Stewart, and
David Letterman. On September 18, a collective Hollywood labor statement expressing unions' support and concern was issued jointly by the
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), the
Directors Guild of America (DGA), the
American Federation of Musicians (AFM), and the
Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). Over 400 creative artists signed an open letter from the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Fox News host
Greg Gutfeld said he was not upset by the suspension, while his guests said "there were limits to free speech on network TV." Former Disney CEO
Michael Eisner also expressed support for Kimmel and criticized the FCC for intimidating ABC and Disney, as did several prominent Republicans including Senator
Ted Cruz, head of FCC
oversight. CNN reported that Disney employees and staff members received death threats following Carr's remarks and had their email addresses and phone numbers publicized. For the company, the affair then became "bigger than Kimmel" and was "a safety issue for employees and the show's advertisers." On September 22, Disney announced that after "thoughtful conversations" with Kimmel, the show would return the following day. In a statement, they explained that "some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive," and the decision to suspend them had been made "to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country."
Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns 31 of ABC's 205 affiliate stations, and Nexstar, which owns 32, announced they would not air Kimmel's show; Sinclair said it would air news programming instead. On September 26, Sinclair and Nexstar announced that they were ending their boycott. Kimmel's viewership stabilized and returned to pre-controversy numbers post suspension. On Christmas Day in 2025, he delivered the
alternative Christmas message for the U.K.'s
Channel 4 addressing his suspension and criticizing
President Trump.
Other television work, 1996-2020 on September 4, 2012 In spring 1996, Kimmel appeared as "Jimmy the Fox Guy" in promos on the
Fox Network. His other television work included being the on-air football prognosticator for
Fox NFL Sunday for four years. He has had numerous appearances on other talk shows, including
Live with Regis and Kelly,
The Howard Stern Show,
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and
Late Show with David Letterman. He has appeared on
The Late Show five times, most recently in 2010. Kimmel served as
roastmaster for the
New York Friars' Club Roast of
Hugh Hefner and the
Comedy Central Roast of
Pamela Anderson. He has appeared on ABC's
Dancing with the Stars. In August 2006, ABC announced that Kimmel would be host of their new game show
Set for Life. The show debuted on July 20, 2007. On April 6, 2007, Kimmel filled in for
Larry King on
Larry King Live. That particular broadcast dealt with paparazzi. Kimmel reproached
Emily Gould, an editor at
Gawker.com, for the site's alleged stalking of celebrities. On July 8, 2007, Kimmel managed the National League in the 2007
Taco Bell All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game in San Francisco. He played in the game in 2004 and 2006 (in Houston and Pittsburgh, respectively). On July 11, 2007, Kimmel, along with basketball player
LeBron James, hosted the 2007
ESPY Awards. The show aired on
ESPN on July 15, 2007. Kimmel hosted the
American Music Awards on
ABC five times, in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008. Kimmel guest-hosted
Live with Regis and Kelly during the week of October 22–26, 2007, commuting every day between New York and Los Angeles. In the process, he broke the
Guinness World Record for the longest distance () traveled in one work week. Kimmel himself has questioned the record, suggesting that a world leader or the Pope must actually hold the record. Kimmel has performed in several animated films, often voicing dogs. His voice appeared in
Garfield: The Movie and
Road Trip, and he portrayed Death's Dog in the
Family Guy episode "
Mr. Saturday Knight";
Family Guy creator
Seth MacFarlane later presented Kimmel with a figurine of his character on
Jimmy Kimmel Live! Kimmel also did voice work for
Robot Chicken. Kimmel's cousin
Sal Iacono has accepted and won a wrestling match with
Santino Marella. On January 14, 2010, amid the
2010 Tonight Show host and time slot conflict, Kimmel was the special guest of
Jay Leno on
The Jay Leno Shows "10 at 10" segment. Kimmel derided Leno in front of a live studio audience for taking back the 11:35 pm time slot from
Conan O'Brien, and repeatedly insulted Leno. He ended the segment with a plea that Leno "leave our shows alone", as Kimmel and O'Brien had "kids" while Leno only had "cars". Kimmel hosted the
64th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 23, 2012, and the
68th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 18, 2016. With the presidential election only weeks away, he pointed out the role
Mark Burnett played in the rise of Trump. Kimmel hosted the
89th edition of the
Academy Awards ceremony on February 26, 2017. He returned as host for the
90th edition on March 4, 2018, and the
95th edition on March 12, 2023. He returned for the fourth time to host the
96th edition on March 10, 2024. In June 2018, Kimmel was challenged by
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz to a one-on-one basketball game after Kimmel compared Cruz's appearance to that of a
blobfish. Kimmel accepted, and the game (known as the Blobfish Basketball Classic) was scheduled to take place at
Texas Southern University on June 16, with the loser donating $5,000 to the non-political charity of the winner's choice. Cruz defeated Kimmel 11–9, and over $80,000 was raised from the game and donated to the charities. In November 2018, Kimmel launched his second production company, Kimmelot. He was the host and co-executive producer of a celebrity edition of
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which premiered for the show's 20th anniversary in 2020. It premiered on April 8, 2020, on ABC. In June 2020, it was announced that Kimmel would return to host the
72nd Primetime Emmy Awards on September 20, 2020.
Books In July 2019, Kimmel released his first book,
The Serious Goose, an interactive children's picture book featuring his own illustrations that tasks readers with helping to make the serious goose smile.
Podcasts From August 30 to October 10, 2023, Kimmel hosted
Strike Force Five, a comedy podcast with
Jimmy Fallon,
Seth Meyers,
Stephen Colbert, and
John Oliver to support their staff members who were out of work due to the
2023 Writers Guild of America strike. == Influences ==