Jimmy Kimmel Pushing Himself Out of the Door at ABC — How Caustic Comic Shot Himself in Foot With Dead Trump Gags
Jimmy Kimmel's ABC future has been facing scrutiny after repeated dead Trump gags sparked backlash.
May 12 2026, Published 6:00 a.m. ET
ABC is getting ready to pull the plug on late-night lightning rod Jimmy Kimmel, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host's cruel joke about first lady Melania Trump having the glow of "an expectant widow" fell with a thud just two days before the assassination attempt by an armed gunman on President Donald Trump, 79, at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, according to insiders who said the crack left execs fuming at the network's corporate parent, the Walt Disney Company.
Melania, 56, later called the 58-year-old comedian a "coward," saying "people like Kimmel shouldn't have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate."
ABC Bosses Feeling The Heat
ABC executives are allegedly reconsidering Jimmy Kimmel's future after backlash over his Melania Trump joke.
And now, sources said the fallout has only increased.
In an attempt to defend himself from the backlash, Kimmel repeated the joke on his show and said critics overreacted and it was simply a dig about the couple's nearly 24-year age gap.
"The original joke was already viewed internally as reckless," said one network insider. "Doubling down turned it into something potentially costly to the network."
Both the president and the first lady have urged ABC to drop Kimmel, and insiders said execs are not necessarily turning a deaf ear to their demands.
Network Still Reeling From Backlash
Kimmel's past controversy involving comments about Charlie Kirk's 2025 shooting reportedly still concerns ABC insiders.
Kimmel's latest PR fiasco comes less than a year after his widely bashed remarks about the fatal September 2025 shooting of activist Charlie Kirk. Though Kimmel condemned Kirk's murder, critics accused him of politicizing the tragedy.
Afterward, the network suspended Kimmel and for nearly a week, an avalanche of affiliate TV stations refused to carry it after his return to the airwaves. And though the stations eventually relented, the blackout cost the network viewers, revenue, and relationships – and higher-ups are not pushing similar backlash moving forward, sources said.
'An Expensive Problem'
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Sources said ABC may part ways with Kimmel after his current contract with the network expires in 2027.
Kimmel is protected by the contract he signed last year, which runs through May 2027 and is widely reported to be around $15million, but sources say all bets are off after that.
"That was not a vote of long-term confidence," said one source with knowledge of the negotiations. "If ABC believed Jimmy was still essential, they would have locked him up for years. Instead, they bought themselves time."
A TV insider said: "The ratings are soft, the ad market is weak, affiliates were furious last year, and Jimmy keeps handing the network fresh ammunition."
Another longtime insider shared: "He used to be a smart risk. Now he just feels like an expensive problem."
