Jimmy Kimmel spoke about the events of the past month as well as his thoughts on Disney’s future direction and whether he would ever invite President Trump onto his show in his first high-profile interview since the furor.
Kimmel didn’t want to discuss his own nightlife future, however.
Speaking at the Bloomberg Screentime event, Kimmel broke down the timeline of the days after his comments about Charlie Kirk’s murderer triggered a major storm and thanked Disney Entertainment co-president Dana Walden for helping resolve the issue.
Kimmel revealed that he didn’t think there was a “big problem” with his comments, but rather saw it as a “distortion” from right-wing news networks.
He said he had “very good conversations” with Disney CEO Bob Iger and Walden after the decision to take Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air. “These are people I have known for a long time and love very much, and we all wanted this to go as well as possible. First of all, I ruined Dana’s weekend. There were just non-stop phone calls all weekend. But I don’t think the outcome, which 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 and understand where everyone was coming from because I can be reactionary sometimes,” he said.
Later in the discussion, Kimmel said he thought Walden should become Disney’s next CEO. After joking that he was never in the conversation, he said, “It would be very stupid of me to answer that question, but I really like Dana Walden and I think she’s done a great job. I think what’s happened over the last three weeks has been very unfair to my bosses at Disney. I don’t think anyone should find themselves in a situation like that.”
But Kimmel, who has already regularly commented on his future late at night before contract negotiations, didn’t want to consider whether he would continue beyond next year, when his contract is up. “I often answer that question, and then I do the opposite of what I said before. I said it would be like my last (of the) last three contracts. I said it was the last. So, I learned not to say anything anymore, because it bothers my staff,” he said.
The host revealed that the budget for these late-night shows is around $120 million a year, but said he doesn’t think they need to be that expensive.
“I don’t think there’s a reason for these shows to disappear. I think there are different ones. There are ways. These shows started because they were a way to get high-priced talent almost for free. That was the whole thing. That’s the only reason they started these shows. It was seen as promotional. So the idea that these shows have to cost $120 million is crazy,” he added.
When asked if he would invite FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and/or President Trump to his show, he replied, “I would love to have Trump on the show, that’s for sure.” »
Kimmel also spoke about the popularity of his show on YouTube. “I’ve never changed my show to do it on 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. It’s a big deal for them. It really is. But I’ve never done the show for YouTube. That said, I love YouTube, and I love being on YouTube, because all you really want, at The bottom line is that as many people as possible can see it. your belongings as much as you can.
He admitted he knew it hurt his linear grades. “Maybe that’s kind of what killed late night TV. More likely, the fact that our main casts are only a tenth of what they were when I started. That’s probably the most likely reason. But I like the idea of people in other countries watching YouTube,” he added.
