Television September 09, 2026
ABC Denies ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Is Ending
Disney/Mark Seliger
Rumors are swirling about the future of the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Page Six reported that the late-night show is ending after this new season, but ABC is refuting the reports.
A source told Page Six that Kimmel’s contract “is not getting extended.”
An ABC spokesperson told “Extra” on Tuesday, “[This] information is inaccurate — any reports about the future of the show at this point are purely speculative.”
Later that day, Kimmel kicked off the new season without addressing the reports.
During his monologue, Kimmel did discuss the history of his show, which has been on the air for 24 years.
In honor of the 4,000th episode, Jimmy said, “It’s a lot of shows. According to the White House, it’s too many shows. This show premiered after the Super Bowl in January 2003. There are those who said we would never last this long. There are even those who used the regulatory might of the FCC to unconstitutionally try to make sure we didn't last this long. But we did it the hard way, Brendan, and we're still here!”
Kimmel was referencing FCC chair Brendan Carr, who praised ABC for suspending the host last year for his comments on Charlie Kirk.
Until last night’s return, Jimmy had been on a two-month break for the summer.
Slamming the POTUS, Kimmel quipped, “Donald Trump and I have one thing in common: We both accomplished nothing all summer long.”
During Kimmel’s absence, Jelly Roll, Rosie O’Donnell, and Colman Domingo stepped in.
