Jimmy Kimmel Told ABC He’d Quit if Execs Stopped Him From Making Trump Jokes: ‘They Knew I Was Serious’
https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/jim...es-1235422576/
Jimmy Kimmel revealed on the most recent episode of Sticher’s “Naked Lunch” podcast that he threatened to quit his ABC talk show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” when ABC executives expressed apprehension over him telling jokes about Donald Trump. It appears the execs once spoke to Kimmel about laying off Trump in order to not alienate Republican viewers. Kimmel said ABC execs were right in their apprehension, as he estimates he lost around half of his audience due to Trump jokes.
“There was one time, right around the beginning of this whole Trump thing… maybe not quite [eight years ago],” Kimmel said when asked if ABC ever expressed concern to him about attacking Trump. “I said listen, I get it, you’re right. I have lost half of my fanbase, maybe more. Ten years ago, among Republicans I was the most popular talk show. At least according to the research they did.”