Jimmy Kimmel

A new Kimmel joke targeting Melania Trump provoked White House anger as the FCC began an early review of certain ABC station licences, an unusual procedure that fuelled allegations of regulatory power being used to pressure political content.

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Kimmel announced that an interview with Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico would be published on YouTube rather than broadcast by ABC, citing the threat that the FCC would apply equal-time rules to talk shows. He accused the commission of using regulation to intimidate broadcasters.

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ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! following Kimmel's remarks about how parts of the MAGA movement were, in his view, attempting to characterise Charlie Kirk's killer. Several major affiliate groups had announced that they would no longer air the programme, and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr had publicly criticised Kimmel.

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Aaron Rodgers suggested on an ESPN programme that Kimmel might be worried about the release of documents linked to Jeffrey Epstein. Kimmel responded that he had never met Epstein, threatened Rodgers with legal action and denounced the dangerous insinuation.

At the 2022 Emmys, Kimmel remained lying on the floor as if unconscious for much of Quinta Brunson's acceptance speech, continuing a joke begun with Will Arnett. The gesture was criticised as disrespectful and as diverting attention from a historic moment for Brunson.

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Old clips showing Kimmel in blackface impersonating basketball player Karl Malone, among others, as well as other racial impersonations, circulated widely again in 2020. Amid the entertainment industry's reassessment of blackface, he issued a public apology.

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Following heart surgery on his newborn son, Kimmel became a prominent voice against certain Republican health insurance reform proposals. He accused Senator Bill Cassidy of having 'lied' about whether the Graham-Cassidy proposal met the 'Jimmy Kimmel test' for protecting patients.

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Kimmel mocked Melania Trump's Slovenian accent during a segment, triggering a highly aggressive confrontation with Sean Hannity. The two hosts exchanged insults and personal attacks, with Hannity notably resurfacing old clips from The Man Show.

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In a segment in which Kimmel discussed America's debt to China with children, one child suggested 'killing everyone in China'. Kimmel continued the conversation in a humorous tone, triggering protests and anger in several Chinese and Chinese-American communities.

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