OAN Staff Cory Hawkins
10:44 AM – Tuesday, December 9, 2025
Liberal late night host Jimmy Kimmel announced on a Monday episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” that he signed a one-year contract extension with ABC, extending the show through May 2027, amid ongoing public feuds with President Donald Trump.
Kimmel’s current deal had been scheduled to end in May next year.
Meanwhile, the 47th President has repeatedly called for Kimmel’s firing, and he recently criticized Kimmel’s hosting abilities during an appearance at the Kennedy Center Honors.
However, Kimmel couldn’t let it go, responding back with insults of his own.
During a recent monologue, Kimmel shot back at President Trump by directly referencing the extension while joking about the president’s “fixation” on him, in his own words, saying, “I’m starting to think he’s got a crush on me.”
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The extension follows a turbulent few months for the show, as it was temporarily suspended in September after Kimmel’s controversial remarks about conservative activist Charlie Kirk — following his assassination. The host had attempted to suggest that a “MAGA” Trump supporter had committed the crime, despite clear evidence pointing to the contrary.
“I thought that [it was] over. I was like, ‘I’m never coming back on the air,’” Kimmel said of the Kirk backlash at the time. He then swiftly pivoted to another attack on Trump, aiming to deflect scrutiny from his own controversial remarks and redirect the spotlight onto the President. “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of somebody he called a friend … This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
Soon after, Brendan Carr, who leads the Federal Communications Commission, condemned Kimmel’s comments and warned that his broadcast licenses could be subject to review.
In response, Democrats and left-wing commentators reached for their tinfoil hats, suggesting that the Trump administration had secretly strong-armed the FCC into punishing Kimmel. Those theories collapsed within days, however, when ABC reinstated “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” less than a week later — shooting down conspiracy theories about Trump’s alleged control over the FCC.
The FCC is an independent regulatory agency that was created by Congress in 1934. The President appoints the five commissioners, including the chair, but appointments require Senate confirmation, and by law, no more than three commissioners can be from the same political party. President Trump cannot order the FCC to take specific enforcement actions, such as pull a broadcast license, fine a network, or censor a late-night host.
With the new deal, Kimmel’s show may shape up to be one of the longest-running late night shows. The program has now been running longer than “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.”
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