A very British holiday tradition will get an American twist this year, when the late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel offers the alternative holiday message, in which he will speak out against fascism on Britain’s Channel 4 on Christmas Day, the station announced on Sunday.
“From a fascism perspective, this has been a really great year,” Mr. Kimmel will say, according to a Channel 4 spokesman.
Mr. Kimmel’s show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” was suspended by ABC in September after he made comments during his show about the man accused of fatally shooting the conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The show’s suspension set off a national debate about free speech. Mr. Kimmel’s show was reinstated after about a week.
He will deliver the so-called alternative Christmas message, a uniquely British tradition and one that rarely enters the public consciousness outside the isles.
It is a direct counter to the royal Christmas message, one of Britain’s most longstanding, serious monarchal rituals, in which the king or queen addresses the British public at 3 p.m. on Christmas Day on BBC.
Mr. Kimmel will share “his personal reflections on the year” at 5:45 p.m., Channel 4 said.
Sometimes serious, sometimes tongue-in-cheek, sometimes aging poorly, the message has been broadcast since 1993, when Channel 4 first aired an “alternative” holiday address in the style of Queen Elizabeth II as satirical counterprogramming.
Mr. Kimmel would not be the first American to deliver the address. The civil rights leader Jesse Jackson did so in 1994.
The roster of others who have presented the alternative message is an eclectic mix. Among them: the swimmer and Olympian Tom Daley; the actor Stephen Fry; the comedian Chris McCausland; a former president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; and the whistle-blower Edward Snowden.
Adeel Hassan contributed reporting.
Ali Watkins covers international news for The Times and is based in Belfast.
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