Key Points
- Jimmy Kimmel admits he once hoped his show would be canceled early in his career.
- Frequent guest shortages meant relying on friends like Sarah Silverman and Kathy Griffin.
- His recent near-cancellation sparked record-breaking viewership.
In the wake of his near-cancellation earlier this fall, when fans feared Jimmy Kimmel may never return to air after ABC pulled his talk show indefinitely over comments he made about slain political influencer Charlie Kirk, the late-night personality is admitting that cancellation is something he once dreamed about.
During a conversation with Ted Danson on his Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast today, Oct. 22, the recently reinstated host looked back on his first year on air, where he felt he “somehow bamboozled [his loved ones] into thinking that [he] knew what [he] was doing.”
But, as he admitted, he “didn’t know what [he] was doing”—so much so that he “would pray that they canceled the show sometimes.”
At the Start of His Late-Night Career, Kimmel Struggled to Find His Footing
Back then, it may have come as a relief when he felt like he was floundering, as he “didn’t want to quit” and “disappoint all the many people who worked for [him].” There was a point, though, where he felt he “couldn’t do it anymore.”
During his introduction to the world of late-night, which came over two decades ago in 2003, there were many a day when dinnertime would roll around on a filming day and they still didn’t have a guest lined up for the midnight filming.
“I would have to just pick up the phone and call my friends,” he recalled—a frustrating feeling, for sure, as he emphasized, “That’s not how you go into a show. You can’t operate that way.” Especially seeing as it “wasn’t an institution that [he] inherited.”
It led to a lot of repeat guests, thanks to the aid of his friends, like then-girlfriend Sarah Silverman, David Alan Grier, Adam Carolla, Kathy Griffin, and Anthony Anderson, who were on “over and over and over again.”
“God bless them, because I needed them,” he told the host. “And they were always ready at a moment’s notice to come on.”
Thankfully, His Wish Never Came True
With time, Kimmel and his staff found their groove, and, as you might imagine, the now-57-year-old likely feels much differently in the wake of his near-cancellation just weeks ago, which, he recently admitted, he thought was the end.
The move led to a very public backlash, with fans, fellow celebrities, and even Disney investors—who suggested the company may have “violated its fiduciary duties” by caving to Donald Trump—calling on the network to bring Kimmel back. When he returned days later, it was to record-breaking viewership.
