Jimmy Kimmel opened up about the events of the last month as well as his thoughts on the future leadership of Disney and whether he’d ever invite President Trump on his show in his first wide-ranging interview since the furor.
Kimmel didn’t, however, want to discuss his own late-night future.
Speaking at the Bloomberg Screentime event, Kimmel broke down the timeline of the days after his comments on the killer of Charlie Kirk kicked off a major storm and credited Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Dana Walden with helping to work it out.
Kimmel revealed that he didn’t think there was a “big problem” with his comments, but rather saw it as a “distortion” on the part of right-wing news networks.
He said he had “really good conversations” with Disney CEO Bob Iger and Walden after the decision to take Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air. “These are people that I I’ve known for a long time, and who I like very much, and we all wanted this to work out best. First of all, I ruined Dana’s weekend. It was just non-stop phone calls all weekend. But I don’t think the result, which I think turned out to be very positive, would have been as positive if I hadn’t talked to Dana as much as I did, because it helped me think everything through, and it helped me understand where everyone was coming from because I can sometimes be reactionary,” he said.
Later in the discussion, Kimmel said that he thought Walden should become the next CEO of Disney. After joking that he is never in the conversation, he said, “It would be very foolish for me to answer that question but I happen to love Dana Walden very much, and I think she’s done a great job. I think what has happened over the last like three weeks, I think was very unfair to my bosses at Disney. I don’t think anyone should ever be put in a position like this.”
But Kimmel, who has previously regularly commented on his late-night future ahead of contract talks, didn’t want to be drawn on whether he’ll continue past next year when his deal is up. “I often answer that question, and then I do the opposite of what I said previously. I said this is going to be like my last one [on the] last three contracts. I said this is the last one. So, I’ve learned not to say anything anymore, because it upsets my staff,” he said.
The host did reveal that the budget of these late-night shows was around $120M per year, but said that he didn’t think they needed to be that expensive.
“I don’t think there’s a reason for these shows to go away. I think there are different. There are ways. These shows started out because they were a way to get high priced talent for almost free. That was the whole trick. That was the whole reason they started these shows. It was deemed to be promotional. So, the idea that these shows need to cost $120M is crazy,” he added.
When asked whether he’d invite FCC chair Brendan Carr and/or President Trump on to his show, he replied, “I’d love to have Trump on the show, for sure.”
Kimmel also talked about the popularity of his show on YouTube. “I never have changed my show to make it for YouTube. I’m very, very conscious of the fact that ABC pays for the show, and YouTube pays nothing, and YouTube gets to sell it and keep half the money. That’s quite a deal for them. It really is. But I’ve never made the show for YouTube. With that said, I love YouTube, and I love being on YouTube, because all you really want deep down, is for as many people to see your stuff as you can.”
He admitted that he knows that has hurt his linear ratings. “Maybe that’s kind of what has killed late-night TV. More likely, the fact that we have our lead ins are a 10th of what they were when I started. That’s probably more likely the reason. But I love the idea that people in other countries are watching YouTube,” he added.
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