Jimmy Kimmel’s ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Reportedly Ending After Next Season — Ending a 24-Year Late-Night Run
After more than two decades as the face of ABC’s late night, Jimmy Kimmel is reportedly preparing to say goodbye.
Multiple sources tell Page Six that the upcoming season of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” — which kicks off Tuesday — will be the show’s last, with the final episode expected to air in May 2027. That would bring Kimmel’s historic run to a close after 24 years on the air.
“His contract is not getting extended,” one insider familiar with the situation said.
ABC Entertainment, for its part, pushed back on the report, with a spokesperson telling Page Six the information is “inaccurate” and that “any reports about the future of the show at this point are purely speculative.”
A Rare Deal in Late Night
Kimmel has long taken pride in his unconventional approach to his ABC deal, signing year-to-year contracts — a rarity in the TV business that gives him unusual flexibility and, at times, leverage. It’s a strategy that has kept him on the air since 2003, making him one of the longest-running network late-night hosts in history.
The news lands on the heels of a ratings win: Rosie O’Donnell’s four-night guest-hosting stint on the show was a bona fide success, with sources saying the comedian was “in her element” behind the desk. O’Donnell made headlines of her own when she went viral for skewering her longtime nemesis, President Trump, with a parody of the Irish standard “Danny Boy” — retitled “Donnie Boy.”
Politics or Money?
Insiders say the decision to part ways likely has nothing to do with Kimmel’s famously combative relationship with the Trump administration.
Kimmel’s feud with Trump reached a boiling point earlier this year after the host joked that first lady Melania Trump “had a glow like an expectant widow” — a quip that landed days before a third assassination attempt on the president. An infuriated Trump called for ABC to fire Kimmel, and the host was briefly pulled off the air last year amid fallout over his remarks about the September 2025 assassination of Charlie Kirk, a move that came under then-Disney CEO Bob Iger.
But sources insist new Disney chief Josh D’Amaro isn’t the type to cave to political pressure. “He’s not afraid of the administration,” one TV insider said. “Josh isn’t folding.”
Instead, the likely culprit is money. D’Amaro has reportedly been offering veteran executives early retirement packages as part of a sweeping restructuring and cost-cutting push across Disney — and one ABC source suggested budget concerns, not politics, drove the decision. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with Trump,” the source said.
Coincidentally, ABC and Disney sued the FCC the day after O’Donnell’s debut, accusing the agency of attacking free speech by requesting to review the network’s broadcasting licenses ahead of schedule.
A Changing Late-Night Landscape
Kimmel’s exit would mark another seismic shift in a late-night world already in flux. CBS ended “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in May, leaving the genre’s future increasingly uncertain.
For now, ABC isn’t confirming anything — but if the reports hold, fans have roughly one more season to catch Kimmel before the lights go down for good.