In American television entertainment, there are three names that have crossed the country's borders with their three shows: Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and Jimmy Kimmel. Three stars leading three shows that have long been part of television legends. Since Donald Trump's arrival at the White House, two of those stars have already fallen, the latest being last night when ABC, owned by Disney, announced the cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel Live! due to the monologue that Kimmel delivered on Monday night about the death of Charlie Kirk and the jokes about Trump that accompanied it.
Of the entertainment trio, only one remains, Fallon, who according to what Donald Trump has said, will be next. First, Colbert fell, for the same reasons that Kimmel fell last night, for making fun of Trump, for speaking his mind about the Administration, and for wanting to maintain the freedom of expression they have worked with for decades in American television. However, Jimmy Kimmel knew when Donald Trump first arrived at the White House (2016) that his end was near.
It was he himself who after Trump's first election knew he would have a hard time enduring. He endured that first term. The second one was impossible. In 2016, as he revealed a few years ago, he was the one who told ABC executives that if he couldn't make jokes about Trump, he would leave the show. The executives talked to Kimmel about the possibility of leaving Trump alone to not alienate Republican viewers. However, despite ABC executives warning him that if he mocked the president, he would lose viewership - and he did - Kimmel chose freedom of expression because when you are the host, conductor, and soul of a late-night show like Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the show becomes more than just a television program. It becomes a window to show what you don't want to show. In fact, it was for showing that Kimmel will no longer be on air "indefinitely."
Of the three stars, Jimmy Kimmel is probably the least known beyond the United States. But in the United States, Kimmel is, with some differences, like a Marc Giró, a David Broncano, or a Pablo Motos in Spain. Colbert, Fallon, and Kimmel are the kings of late-night television with similar format shows where the difference lies precisely in them. In Jimmy Kimmel's case, the curious thing is that his talent for comedy, television, and entertainment was not something he grew up with. The curious thing about Kimmel, especially now that Trump's censorship has taken him off television, is that Kimmel comes from an Italian family that migrated to the United States when the U.S. was still the land of opportunities, when the American dream was still achievable. In fact, Kimmel achieved it.
Neither his father nor his mother ever had any connection to the television or media world. His maternal grandparents emigrated in 1883 from Ischia (Italy) to the United States after the earthquake that devastated the island. His last name was not even Kimmel, as two of his great-great-grandparents were Germans, the Kümmels. In 2025, Kimmel obtained Italian citizenship. He also mentioned, and even threw jabs at Trump, expressing fear of being deported due to the president's anti-immigration policies. In Spain, Jimmy Kimmel would be considered as the thorn in Donald Trump's side.
Educated in the Catholic religion, Kimmel spent his childhood attending masses, taking communion, and sipping consecrated wine, as he was an altar boy for many years. After his family moved to Las Vegas when he was only 9 years old, Kimmel discovered the American dream. He studied at the University of Nevada, then at the University of Arizona, but it wasn't until he got hooked on David Letterman on the radio that the showman felt the urge to pursue a career in communication.
He spent his early years in radio, first at the University, where he gained popularity, but started getting paid for his work in the late 80s when he co-hosted the morning show The Me and Him Show on KZOK-FM in Seattle. Kimmel was already a thorn in the side of executives, as with that show, his monologues, his segments, the station lost $80,000 in advertising contracts.
He was eventually fired, which led him to sports broadcasting. Until then, radio was his medium, he didn't pay much attention to television, but the big opportunity came, and he didn't miss it. He started writing for announcers and promoters at Fox, and soon was hired to handle on-air promotions himself. At that time, Kimmel, already married to his first wife and with two children, worked from dawn until his body said enough.
Despite facing years of financial struggles, Kimmel never accepted opportunities unless the projects appealed to him and aligned with his values. Until he was offered, ironically, a role as the comedic foil to Ben Stein on the game show Win Ben Stein's Money, which began airing on Comedy Central in 1997. His wit and down-to-earth personality contrasted with Stein's monotonous vocal style and faux patrician demeanor. This combination earned them an Emmy Award for Best Game Show Host. The dream was starting to come true.
Opportunities to produce, to do what he truly knew and excelled at, comedy programs, ironic, entertaining, without external censorship or self-censorship, came his way, and in 2003, he reached the peak: Jimmy Kimmel Live! was born. Keeping a show on the air for 22 years, especially in American television, could be considered a miracle. In those 22 years, Jimmy Kimmel created a television genre of his own. In those 22 years, he was labeled as "the biggest jerk on television" by Stuffmagazine.com, but in reality, he is far from being a "jerk." Speaking and doing what you believe is right without constraints is not "being a jerk," it's common sense. Kimmel brought that common sense to his show every night, leading to sky-high ratings, but also making many enemies, as Kimmel didn't hold back when he felt the need to speak out. Then came Donald Trump to the presidency, and the worst enemy was created.
He built his show surrounded by his family and friends; he made famous the phrase he always closed his show with, "my apologies to Matt Damon, we ran out of time," after a visit from the actor caused the show to run out of time and he had to bid farewell to the actor with a light-hearted tone, which turned the actor into a regular on the show.
He waded into every controversy he could find. In October 2013, a segment of the show titled Kids Table featured five- and six-year-old children discussing the U.S. government shutdown and U.S. debts. When one of the children suggested "killing all the people in China" as a way to solve the U.S. debt, Kimmel responded that it was "an interesting idea" and jokingly asked, "Should we allow the Chinese to live?" This was his first clash with the U.S. Administration.
A group called Initiative 80-20, which identifies as a pan-Asian American political organization, sent a letter to ABC demanding that Kimmel rectify. The network responded: "We would never intentionally broadcast anything that would upset the Chinese community, the Asian community, anyone of Chinese descent, or any community in general." Over a hundred people took to the streets of San Francisco days later to protest against the show and demand "a more elaborate apology" and the firing of Kimmel. On that day's show, Kimmel retracted: "I thought it was obvious that I didn't agree with that statement, but apparently it wasn't... So I just wanted to say: I'm sorry, I apologize." Nevertheless, the protests continued and even reached the point of submitting a petition to the White House.
In 2020, he had to apologize again after the murder of George Floyd. Kimmel apologized for the blackface imitations of media mogul Oprah Winfrey and basketball player Karl Malone, as well as for using racial slurs while imitating a 1996 Snoop Dogg song: "I believe I have evolved and matured in the last 20 years and I know this won't be the last time I hear about this and that it will be used again to try to silence me."
Kimmel was not wrong. The final controversy would come, the death of Charlie Kirk and the mockery of Trump over the murder. And this time what was once an attempt to silence him has become a reality.