Jimmy Kimmel’s future at ABC was up in the air even before his incendiary TV comments, multiple sources told Page Six.
The multi-millionaire late night host had just months left on his deal with Disney, and was set to start negotiations with bigwigs later this year.
However, we’re told that ABC may have been getting ready to push him out after this season.
Sources said the network could’ve used the furore over his outspoken nightly monologues to pull the plug early and avoid another year of Kimmel’s controversial comments.
One insider said that Disney chief Bob Iger, “doesn’t want to be at war with Donald Trump right now, just as he has stabilized Disney… I don’t know what they are planning, but maybe the uproar is so loud Jimmy can’t come back.”
Despite this, another source told us weeks ago that Kimmel may have been putting off plans to leave, saying, “Kimmel may not even want to leave, just so he can p–s Trump off!”
“If he was thinking of retirement, he most definitely will stay put now.”
The “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host, 57, was spotted in Century City on Thursday after his show was put on hiatus headed to see his attorney, whom we have learned is top legal eagle Karl Austen. (Austen’s clients have included Seth MacFarlane, Jude Law, Dave Bautista and Jeffrey Wright.)
While we’re told Kimmel could not launch a bid for a mega payout from ABC, Kimmel is close friends with co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, Dana Walden, and sources recently insisted to us she would never axe him.
“I don’t see Dana agreeing to push him out,” said the source.
Indeed, it was Walden who reportedly made the phone call to the comedian on Wednesday night to break the news that his show was going on indefinite hiatus.
A rep for Disney and Kimmel’s lawyer did not get back to us.
On Wednesday, ABC “indefinitely” yanked Kimmel’s longtime late-night show over remarks he made against the late right-wing icon Charlie Kirk during Monday night’s monologue. Kimmel came under fire when he said the “MAGA gang” was trying to score political points off Kirk’s execution.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said on his show, which is taped in front of a live audience.
ABC’s parent company, Disney, was subsequently slammed by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr over his comments about Kirk’s accused killer, Tyler Robinson — with Carr demanding action.
Also in the aftermath, Sinclair, the media company that operates as the largest ABC affiliate group, issued a list of demands in order for Kimmel’s late-night talk show to return to the air.
But sources told Deadline Thursday the late-night host is “unwilling to apologize for his remarks.”
Kirk, a close ally of President Trump, was shot dead by a single bullet to the neck while speaking at an outdoor event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
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