James Dixon is about to be the busiest guy in late-night

• James Dixon is managing the fallout as ABC pulls “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air after host’s comments.
• Dixon is the talent manager for Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and Jon Stewart.
• Dixon’s firm, Dixon Talent, was acquired by WME-IMG in 2015, expanding his influence in Hollywood.

It’s likely safe to say that James Dixon is somewhere right now diligently on the phone with someone or texting someone before getting on the phone with someone else.

Who is James Dixon?

Dixon is the New York-based talent manager of Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and Jon Stewart. (Now, you understand why he’s pretty busy at the moment).

In July, CBS announced it would cancel “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in May 2026. Then on Wednesday, Disney-owned ABC announced it was pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air following comments the host made about Charlie Kirk.

According to reporting from Puck on Friday, Dixon, Kimmel, and his lawyer Andy Galker were on a Zoom call Thursday with Disney TV cochair Dana Walden and ABC late-night head Rob Mills to figure out a way to get Kimmel’s show back on the air, but neither side could reach an agreement.

Dixon began his firm, Dixon Talent, in 2001 after spending 14 years at the William Morris Agency and then a time at CAA, running the comedy management arm of Artists Management Group. In 2015, Dixon Talent was acquired by WME-IMG.

Along with the three late-night hosts, Dixon also represents Carson Daly, Adam Carolla, The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, model Brooks Nader, and “The Last Dance” docuseries director Jason Hehir. He was also an executive producer on “The Daily Show.”

Dixon did not respond to requests for comment from BI.

In calmer times, Dixon is better known as “Baby Doll.” A nickname he got because he calls everyone “Baby Doll,” according to Sal “Cousin Sal” Iacono, a comedy personality who is Kimmel’s real-life cousin.

“He’s a tough-talking, tougher-smoking talent agent… we nicknamed him “Baby Doll” because he calls everyone else ‘Baby Doll,'” Iacono wrote in a Grantland story in 2012. “And I mean everyone. His daughters are all Baby Doll. His clients are all Baby Doll. The 75-year-old Pakistani man working behind the counter at Dunkin’ Donuts is Baby Doll. ‘I’ll take a large coffee. Oh, and make it light and sweet, Baby Doll.’ Everyone in Baby Doll’s life is Baby Doll.”

Dixon also became a bit on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in 2017 when Colbert was a guest. Both Kimmel and Colbert were blindfolded and had to guess from a collection of colones, which was the one Dixon wore.

Clearly, things are more serious these days when Dixon and Kimmel get in the same room.

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