Jimmy Kimmel, the host of a late-night talk show, has recently said that his ongoing battle with US President has cost ABC and its parent company, the Walt Disney Company, “billions.”
According to USA Today, , in his annual no-holds-barred stand-up routine at the Disney Upfronts for advertisers on May 12, mocked his financial impact on the company, referencing incidents such as ABC’s September suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” amid pressure from the White House.
Kimmel says battle with White House cost ABC “billions”
Kimmel on Tuesday said, “I cost our company 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 than hiring me 24 years ago,” and added, “Just from a purely mathematical standpoint, I was the worst personnel decision that the Disney Corporation ever made. Not even the captain of the Exxon Valdez did more damage.”
As he continued his stand-up routine, his sidekick, Guillermo Rodriguez, wandered among the wealthy advertisers with a collection basket, seeking donations. Kimmel reportedly received $7 and a tennis ball.
Battle with White House raises Kimmel’s show ratings
However, despite him costing the network “billions”, his highly publicised battle with the White House and the has reportedly been beneficial for “Live!” ratings. Elaborating on this, Kimmel said, “Largely thanks to our partners in Washington, we are up 25% in viewers aged 18 to 49,” and added, “It’s a big deal for your numbers to go up nowadays. But if (legendary “Tonight Show” host) Johnny Carson woke up with my ratings, he’d have gone straight under the sink and chugged all the Drano he found there.”
Kimmel vs Trump: Here’s all you need to know
Earlier in April, the US President called on the ABC network to fire Kimmel over a joke that Trump said was “really shocking.” The development came after the late-night host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” held a mock roast of the president on April 23. Alongside jokes about and flatulence, he quipped at the first lady, Melania Trump, “Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”
Calling out his joke on April 27, Trump, in a Truth Social post, wrote that Kimmel’s “hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn’t comedy — his words are corrosive and deepen the political sickness within America.”
Trump went on to call the joke a “despicable call to violence,” and called for his removal from ABC. Following Trump’s remarks, defended himself and said the joke was about their age difference. He added, “It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination — and they know that.”
This isn’t the first time that Trump has sought Kimmel’s removal. In September last year, Kimmel’s show was taken off air by ABC after he suggested that the man accused of killing was associated with Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement. While initially the company called the suspension indefinite, ABC brought it back on the air in a week.
On his return, Kimmel acknowledged that his remarks were “ill-timed,” but also said, “A government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn’t like is anti-American.”
Despite repeated political backlash and public criticism from the , Kimmel has continued with his jokes as part of his routine and has often cited the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects fundamental freedoms related to speech and expression.
