After being briefly suspended in September due to his controversial remarks about the death of Charlie Kirk, Jimmy Kimmel admitted that he once hoped ABC would cancel his late-night show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Considered one of the most popular talk shows on television, Kimmel began hosting the program in 2003. But while it eventually became one of the most iconic late-night staples, things didn’t come easy at first.
Here’s what Kimmel had to say about it.
Why Did Jimmy Kimmel Hope to End Jimmy Kimmel Live?
Kimmel may be praised for his unique hosting style, but there was a time when he didn’t know what he was doing during the early days of Jimmy Kimmel Live!
“I didn’t know what I was doing, and I would pray that they canceled the show sometimes,” he told Ted Danson on Wednesday’s episode of the Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast. “I didn’t want to quit because I didn’t want to disappoint all the people who worked for me, but I couldn’t—I was just... I couldn’t do it anymore.”
At the start of his eponymous show, the famed TV host detailed some of the struggles they faced, including having very few guests.
“It was just, like, we didn’t have guests many times. We’d go on the air live at midnight, at 12:05,” he recalled. “There were times it was 5:30 in the afternoon and we didn’t have guests for that night’s show, and I would have to just pick up the phone and call my friends.”
This made Kimmel feel frustrated, believing that wasn’t how a show should operate. Thankfully, his friends were always ready to help—even his then-girlfriend Sarah Silverman, who appeared on the show a lot.
“I asked her to come on a lot, and I love her,” he continued, referring also to his friends Adam Carolla, David Alan Grier, Anthony Anderson, and Kathy Griffin. “God bless them, because I needed them. And they were always ready at a moment’s notice to come on.”
Fortunately, after all the hardships, Jimmy Kimmel Live! eventually found its footing and rose to success by adding recurring bits and other creative elements to keep the show afloat.
“It stabilized, and we figured out how to do it,” the 57-year-old comedian added.
How Did Jimmy Kimmel React to His Show’s Suspension?
Back in September, ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! for a few days following Kimmel’s controversial monologue that mentioned Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer and the right-wing’s reaction to his death.
From there, things quickly went into a downward spiral, with FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatening to pull ABC affiliate broadcast licenses in response to Kimmel’s comments.
Nexstar, which airs the show in more than 20 markets, announced that it would not broadcast the episode.
As ABC executives stepped in and informed Kimmel that his show would be pulled off the air, he told Stephen Colbert on The Late Show earlier this month that he believed it wasn’t “a good idea.”
“I thought, that’s it. It’s over, it’s over. I was like, I’m never coming back on the air,” he confessed.
However, after a six-day suspension, Kimmel made a triumphant return with an emotional monologue and massive ratings.
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