Jimmy Kimmel hints at quitting late night TV

During a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, the talk show host said his current contract could be his last.

"I think this is my final contract," he said. "I hate to even say it, because everyone's laughing at me now — each time I think that, and then it turns out to be not the case. I still have a little more than two years left on my contract, and that seems pretty good. That seems like enough."

Kimmel explained that he had considered retiring prior to last year's writer's strike, but that having some time off made him realize he wasn't ready to call it quits just yet.

"It's hard to yearn for it when you're doing it," he explained. "Wednesday night, I was very tired and I had all these scripts to go through; I had to revise and rewrite all these pitch ideas for the Oscars, and I was literally nodding off onto my computer. In those moments, I think, 'I cannot wait until my contract is over,' but then I take the summer off or I go on strike, and you start going, 'Yeah, I miss the fun stuff'."

News of Kimmel's potential departure from late-night television was met with varying reactions.

https://twitter.com/libbyemmons/status/1760416040368914604?s=20

"America's long era of suffering is almost over," Libby Emmons wrote in a post on X, to which others replied, "Depends. Who will take his place?"

https://twitter.com/YossiShow/status/1760416409836749243?s=20

"There's a light at the end of the tunnel," wrote podcast host Yossi Schmidt.

While Kimmel has been celebrated by the left for his condemnation of Donald Trump, he has drawn the ire of many on the right for his comments about the former president and those who oppose the official "narrative" on issues such as Covid-19.