Jimmy Kimmel is tearfully reflecting on the ups and downs of 2025.
“This has been a strange year. It’s been a hard year. We’ve had some lows, we’ve had some highs,” Kimmel, 58, began his Jimmy Kimmel Live! broadcast on Thursday, December 18. “For me, maybe more than any year of my life. I’m crying already, I’m sorry.”
He continued, “On behalf of all of us at the show, I just want to say that we appreciate your support, your enthusiasm, and not just for watching. This year, you literally pulled us out of a hole, and we cannot thank you enough personally.”
Kimmel’s long-running talk show was briefly pulled off the air by ABC in September after backlash to the host’s comments on Charlie Kirk’s death. The show eventually returned, but the hard times didn’t stop there. In November, Kimmel’s bandleader and childhood friend Cleto Escobedo III unexpectedly died at the age of 59. The show went on another brief hiatus to allow the comedian and his crew time to grieve.
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“I know there are a lot harder jobs, but this is not an easy job,” Kimmel said on Thursday. “Sometimes it feels like we’re spinning our wheels. You see so many awful and destructive acts, all this damage we inflict on ourselves on purpose. It can make you feel crazy trying to wrap your head around these things that are so clearly wrong.”
He added, “You grow up reading Superman [comics] and you learn to value ‘truth, justice and the American way.’ Then you start to realize, especially over the last year, you don’t know where that all went. … When I hear from people who tell me that they watch our show, and the shows that my friends and colleagues do on the other channels, and that it makes them feel less crazy. It makes me feel less crazy, too.”
Kimmel further stressed that he believes “it is important” to let international viewers “know that a lot of us are not OK with what is happening.”
“There is still much more good in this country than bad,” he said. “We hope that you will bear with us during this extended psychotic episode that we’re in the middle of. We wish you a happy whatever holiday you celebrate, even if it’s none of the above.”
While Kimmel has a holiday break scheduled to end December, Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return in the new year. News broke earlier this month that Kimmel signed a one-year contract extension with ABC.
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“I thought about it, I gave it a lot of thought, and decided I would like to spend less time with my family,” he joked of the series renewal on the December 8 broadcast. “So, to our audience here and at home, I’m honored and humbled to be part of your routine, whether it’s in bed at night or during your morning toilet time. It means a lot to me to have your attention.”
Kimmel joked that his late night show will air through May 2027 “or until the world ends, whichever comes first.”
