Double down? Technically, Jimmy Kimmel wanted to double down on his double down, which would be … an In-N-Out 4×4 of stupid. Kimmel apparently thought he was the house, and the casino instead called in his chips.
Kimmel got yanked off the air, CNN reports, because ABC and Disney execs found out that he planned to escalate his previous escalation. Others had reported that Kimmel wanted to argue that his comments had been taken out of context, but that Disney got cold feet. After already doubling down on blaming “MAGA” for Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Kimmel planned another double-down:
The decision to yank Jimmy Kimmel’s show off the air wasn’t quite as rash as one might think. The issue had been brewing all week throughout the executive ranks at Disney and ABC — ever since Kimmel made comments during his Monday night monologue about Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer and, as he called Trump’s supporters, the “MAGA gang.” …
According to one of the individuals familiar with the situation, Kimmel was prepared to deliver his monologue on his show Wednesday night and planned to address the right-wing backlash to his remarks made earlier in the week regarding the politicalization of Kirk’s killing. This individual describes Kimmel’s planned monologue as “very hot,” taking aim at the MAGA base.
It was then that Disney executives had conversations with Kimmel about “taking down the temperature” of his monologue, according to the individual. Nexstar announced its plan to pull Kimmel’s show at the same time.
That’s when Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney Entertainment Co-chairman Dana Walden made the decision to preempt the show indefinitely — in hopes of protecting Kimmel and the Disney brand from accelerating the controversy.
Remind me again … ABC advertises this as a late-night comedy show, right? As entertainment?
And remind me of this part, too: isn’t Kimmel supposed to be a stand-up comedian? Even apart from the deeply unfunny nature of his schtick, that’s his oeuvre, at least reportedly. How did such a thin-skinned crybaby make it past Open Mic Night at the local Shakey’s Pizza?
This entire clusterfark looks like a series of category errors. If ABC wanted to create a political channel (let’s call it MSABC), then perhaps Kimmel belongs there, as just another arrogant-yet-fragile activist host. At least that would frame his limited gifts more honestly, and also perhaps attract an audience more suited in temperament and size for a man-child with delusions of insight. Let’s not forget that Kimmel fully participated in the fraud surrounding Joe Biden’s cognitive decline, attempting to prop up an incapacitated old man while pushing his attempt to win a second four-year term.
In other words, Kimmel’s no stranger to doubling down on dishonesty, not to mention stupid.
Somewhat unbelievably, ABC and Disney still want Kimmel to return, CNN reports:
Walden and Kimmel have a longstanding, positive relationship, and Kimmel has always been incredibly well-regarded within ABC, according to numerous sources.
“Everyone deeply values him and wants him to come back,” one source familiar said. “But he has to take down the temperature.”
I sense spin coming from the House of Mouse. Kimmel’s ratings are at least as bad as Stephen Colbert’s for a show that probably costs somewhere in the same range. CBS/Paramount has lost around $40 million a year on Colbert, which is why they decided to ring down the curtain on Late Night. Sean Spicer offered the comparison based on Nielsen stats from Late Nighter for the key advertiser demo:
3 left wing hosts destroyed late night tv pic.twitter.com/53982ZK6y2
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) September 18, 2025
Kimmel is clearly in third place in a declining/dying genre, and second place got the steak knives in its back this summer. And it doesn’t look like first place will get a Cadillac, either. ABC and Disney may like working with Kimmel, but they’re not going to sustain the kind of losses this suggests just for old times’ sake. This is as good an opening as they will get to reorient late-night programming away from the MSABC model and toward something with a chance of profitability. Celebrity Family Feud reruns look more lucrative at the moment, especially with Kimmel running his anti-MAGA Revenge Campaign on their dime.
By the way, Kimmel’s not the only MSABC host to get a warning from Disney C-suite:
ABC’s “The View” co-hosts skipped the news Thursday that network colleague Jimmy Kimmel’s show had been pulled from the air the day before.
“The View,” which operates under ABC’s news division, did not discuss the Disney-owned network pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” a story that broke the night before, dominating news coverage and prompting outrage from liberals. …
A representative for “The View” did not immediately return a request for comment. It was unclear if ABC directed the talk show to skip over the major news that could have resulted in criticism of the company by the liberal hosts.
The Daily Mail has an ‘exclusive’ report behind a paywall claiming that ABC imposed a ‘strict new rule’ of some sort relating to the Kimmel situation. As near as one can glean, the hosts are clashing over this intervention, and “panic has set it” over the situation. How accurate that is would be anyone’s guess, but given the similar level of intellect and self-restraint on that MSABC show, it’s believable enough. It’s certainly plausible enough to start up the ol’ popcorn machine.
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