Jimmy Kimmel has a sense of humor about his beef with President Donald Trump.
The ABC late-night host joked at Disney’s annual advertising presentation on Tuesday that his show’s ratings are up this year — “largely thanks to our partners in Washington.”
Kimmel entered to cheers and said at the top of his roughly 10-minute monologue: “I didn’t think I’d ever see you guys again either. But the bad boy of data and measurement solutions is back.”
Kimmel had his show temporarily suspended last fall amid a political firestorm following a joke he made about the killer of late political activist Charlie Kirk.
“Usually in order for ABC to pull you off the air, you have to throw a chair at your Mormon boyfriend,” Kimmel joked at the Disney Upfront presentation. It was a reference to the controversy around Taylor Frankie Paul, the “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star who was set to host the now-shelved season of “The Bachelorette.”
“Yes, the president has tried to get me twice over the last six months — that’s one way to look at it,” Kimmel joked. “You could also say I’ve generated unparalleled engagement across a variety of platforms.”
Kimmel made political waves again in late April for saying first lady Melania Trump “had a glow like an expectant widow,” days before a gunman entered the hotel hosting the White House Correspondents’ Dinner that Trump attended.
That led Trump to say on social media that Kimmel should be “immediately fired” from ABC. A day later, the FCC said it was investigating Disney’s broadcast networks for their DEI practices. The agency ordered an early renewal review for the company’s broadcast licenses, a rare occurrence.
“Hiring me 24 years ago, just from a purely mathematical standpoint, was the worst personnel decision the Disney corporation has ever made,” Kimmel said on Tuesday.
The FCC has also investigated whether ABC’s daytime talk show “The View” violated so-called equal-time rules by bringing on Democrats, such as Texas lawmaker James Talarico.
In response, Disney has pushed back against the FCC, saying that the agency’s actions “threaten to upend decades of settled law and practice and chill critical protected speech.”
Business Insider’s Peter Kafka wrote that this gentle but firm resistance under new Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro is a marked difference from the more conciliatory approach to Trump that former CEO Bob Iger took.
Kimmel also hasn’t backed down, though he said on his late-night show that he’s been “very vocal” about opposing gun violence.
During NBC’s presentation to advertisers on Monday, late-night host Seth Meyers poked fun at Paramount-owned CBS for being “in the pocket for Trump.” Disney and ABC were spared from such barbs.
Near the end of his monologue, Kimmel joked: “That’s it for me — probably forever.”
