Jimmy Kimmel, who won Best Talk Show at the Broadcast Critics’ Choice Awards, used his acceptance speech to slam Donald Trump and thank all the celebrities who rallied to his support after ABC canceled his late-night show earlier this year after the two major owners of network networks Nexstar and Sinclair complained about Kimmel’s monologue about the alleged shooting of Charlie Kirk.
Kimmel said on Jan. 4, “Thank you to all the writers, actors, producers, union members, so many of you in this room, so many of you who have supported us and really stepped up and reminded us that we don’t take free speech for granted in this city or in this country. Your actions matter and we appreciate them.”
“And most of all, I want to thank our President, Donald Jennifer Trump. Without him, we would be going home empty-handed tonight,” Kimmel added. “So Mr. President, thank you for all the crazy things you do every day. The last few weeks have been wild, and we can’t wait to be back on the air tomorrow night to talk about them. Thank you, everyone.”
Variety reported last month that Kimmel had signed a new deal with Disney that would extend his late-night show for another year, meaning Jimmy Kimmel Live will air until 2027. Kimmel regularly criticizes Trump in his nightly monologue. The host recently criticized the president’s response to the murder of film director Rob Reiner, with Trump calling Reiner “crazy” and speculating that his death was “out of anger” he caused others by being anti-Trump.
“What we need at a time like this, besides common sense about guns and mental health care, is compassion and leadership. We didn’t get that from the president, because he has nothing to give us. Instead, we got an idiot rambling on about nonsense,” Kimmel said at the time. “It’s so hateful and so vile. When I first saw it, I thought it was fake. My wife showed it to me this morning, and I thought, ‘That seemed too much, even for him.'” But nothing is too much for him. ”
Kimmel also criticized Trump on Channel 4’s special Christmas address to Britain, where he recalled how “millions of people stood up” when ABC pulled the show, saying, “‘No, this is not acceptable.’ People who don’t like me, people who are on record saying they don’t like my show, spoke up, marched, and did all this in support of the right to free speech. We’re back, and our show is back, stronger.” Ever. ”
“We won, but the president lost. And now I’m back on the air every night giving the most powerful politician on the planet a righteous and well-deserved bollocks. That’s a word, right? Did I use it properly?” Kimmel added.
