When asked about his intentions for Jimmy Kimmel Live, Jimmy Kimmel bemoaned his current lack of free time! finally comes to an end.
In a comprehensive interview with Vulture that was released on Monday, Kimmel, 58, described his current schedule as “all-encompassing” and said, “I can’t move.” The host stated, “It’s difficult for me to take a break to step away from it,” years after CNBC estimated that he made roughly $15 million annually.
Kimmel went on, “Professionally, I have no idea what I’m going to do after this.” “Freedom is what I want more than anything,” he said. “I want to be able to go fishing because the fishing is good.”
According to ABC, Kimmel’s current contract is scheduled to expire in May of next year.
According to network sources who previously spoke with The Daily Mail, the one-year extension replaced earlier three-year renewals, which are becoming more and more prevalent as broadcasts continue to lose viewers. “That seemed to make sense.” Kimmel, 58, said, “It’s definitely not how it’s gone in the past.”
In a comprehensive interview with Vulture that was released on Monday, Jimmy Kimmel, 58, described his current workload as “all-encompassing.”
Kimmel added that, beginning on June 19, he intends to take the entire summer off for the sixth year in a row. In 2017, CNBC claimed that he was paid approximately $15 million annually.
After 23 years of late-night work, he didn’t say if he would pursue a new contract or consider it a job.
“It’s important to me to be responsible,” Kimmel said in response to a question on how he would handle the latter. “I know I could go out in a blaze of glory and get a lot of applause for it, but it would be a very selfish thing to do.”
Kimmel continued by discussing the cancellation of Stephen Colbert. Before bolstering allegations that Colbert was canceled for political reasons, he claimed it was “looking at his own future.” “We’re not just dying of natural causes,” he remarked. “We’re being poisoned,” Kimmel asserted. “I feel a little bit defeated by it,” Kimmel continued, adding that he didn’t understand why CBS offered Colbert a multi-year deal in 2023 if the program was losing money every year. “I feel like I’m looking at my own future in a lot of ways.”
Kimmel referred to the idea that the format is no longer relevant as “silly.””There are far more people watching late-night TV than there ever were, if you look at the number of views me and my colleagues get online every day and add in our linear-television ratings,” Kimmel declared. “These are just made-up numbers,” he said of a $40 million figure used in the Puck piece to describe the show’s annual losses, according to a July Puck report and an official CBS statement.
Since 2003, Kimmel has been the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!. He stated, “Professionally, I have no idea what I’m going to do after this,” regarding his retirement plans. More than everything, I desire freedom.
Kimmel also discussed the recent cancellation of Stephen Colbert. Before bolstering allegations that the host was canceled for political reasons, he characterized it as “looking at his own future.”
In contrast, Kimmel insisted that ABC’s late-night business strategy is still successful. “Quite specifically,” he claimed, ABC executives had informed him of this.
The host could not rule out the potential that, like Colbert, he might be abruptly canceled, citing his September suspension due to criticism for a comment he made over Charlie Kirk’s passing and his more recent “expectant widow” joke about Melania Trump, the first lady.
He chuckled, “What if I really do do something wrong?” “I mean, that is unavoidable.”
Once more, the joke seemed to focus on allegations that Colbert’s cancellation was mandated for political reasons.
Kimmel went on to say that he still intends to take the entire summer off, beginning on June 19, for the sixth year in a row.
Regarding the network’s future intentions, he continued, “I don’t know what ABC is going to want to do.” “It’s an unusual position to be in, but I do still have a year on my contract, and that’s what I agreed to,” Kimmel said of himself.
He responded, “You’re trying not to drown, then you’re working on technique, and then you’re timing yourself,” when asked about the state of late-night life nowadays. The waves are enormous and the water is choppy.
Jimmy Kimmel Live was hosted by Kimmel, a former cohost of the Man Show! since 2003.
