Jimmy Kimmel will remain at ABC for a while longer.
The late night host has signed a one-year extension with the network that will take Jimmy Kimmel Live! through the end of the 2026-27 TV season. Kimmel’s current deal was set to end in May 2026.
The extension, first reported by Bloomberg, comes on the heels of a tumultous few months for Kimmel that saw him briefly suspended in September for comments about the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, a record audience for his return and ongoing sparring with President Donald Trump.
Kimmel thought that when he was initially suspended by ABC, that his tenure on the network was coming to an end. “I thought that it’s over. I was like, I’m never coming back on the air,” he told Stephen Colbert.
Of course, the preemption ended up begin short-lived, despite some complaints from major ABC affiliates Sinclair and Nexstar.
Kimmel’s future at ABC had been in doubt, given the May expiration of his contract. He told Bloomberg in October that he had not yet decided on what he would do, but that he keeps answering the question.
“I often answer that question, and then I do the opposite of what I said,” Kimmel quipped. “I previously said, ‘this is going to be like my last one,’ the last three contracts. So I’ve learned not to say anything anymore, because it upsets my staff. It’s best that when I make a decision, I will make that decision.”
Now he has made a decision, albeit a short-term one. Of course that doesn’t preclude him from signing another deal a year from now.
Kimmel’s head writer (and wife) Molly McNearney addressed his suspension at The Hollywood Reporter’s Women In Entertainment brunch last week.
“Fear is contagious. But the good news is, so is bravery,” McNearney. “I’ve watched Jimmy and my friends and my co-workers hold our leaders accountable without fear night after night. I’ve watched other late night shows and journalists and lawyers and activists and politicians and civilians in the street stick their neck out there for all of us.”
“No one — not the FCC, not ABC standards and practices, not even President Trump himself — has taken more action to infringe upon and forcibly limit my speech than Molly McNearney,” Kimmel quipped in introducing her.
Alex Weprin contributed to this report.
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