Jimmy Kimmel Humiliates Trump with Brutal Ratings Boast — After Prez Demanded ABC Fire Late-Night Host Over Melania 'Widow' Jab
Jimmy Kimmel credited President Trump for giving him a ratings boost.
May 13 2026, Published 1:05 p.m. ET
Jimmy Kimmel "thanked" his arch-enemy, Donald Trump, for giving him a huge ratings boost, RadarOnline.com can report.
The talk show host bragged about the "unparalleled engagement" by viewers he has experienced, after the president's repeated attempts to have him fired and pulled from the air gave him free publicity.
Jimmy Kimmel Gives Thanks to Donald Trump
Kimmel has been called out by Trump and wife Melania over a joke he made about her.
Kimmel entertained at ABC's annual upfront presentation, where networks roll out their new fall schedules to coveted advertisers.
And of course, his feud with Trump, which recently escalated after an ill-received joke about his wife, Melania, was his main punchline.
"Yes, the President has tried to get me twice over the last six months," the 58-year-old admitted. "That's one way to look at it. Another way, you can also say I’ve generated unparalleled engagement across a variety of platforms."
Kimmel further boasted about his increased viewership.
"Largely thanks to our partners in Washington, we are up 25%," he reported. "It’s a good deal to have the numbers go up nowadays."
Melania Trump's 'Glow' Leads to Outrage
Kimmel delivered the crude Melania Trump widow joke on his late night show.
Kimmel has been working to get the last laugh since the president called him out after the comedian joked that Melania has "a glow like an expectant widow."
Two days later, a gunman opened fire at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
The first lady, 56, blasted Kimmel via X, tweeting: "Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn’t comedy — his words are corrosive and deepen the political sickness within America."
She continued: "Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate."
Trump has repeatedly called for Kimmel's firing.
President Trump, 79, agreed that Kimmel should be fired "immediately," dubbing his joke "shocking" and "far beyond the pale."
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 do not want similar backlash moving forward, sources said.
Jimmy Kimmel Canned in 2027?
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The late-night host's contract expires next year.
It all means Kimmel could be joking himself out of a job. The former Man Show host 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."
