Jimmy Kimmel’s Show Still Faces Uncertainty Despite Return, Report Says

Contract negotiations for Jimmy Kimmel Live! have reportedly stalled after Disney pushed for a major reduction in the late-night show’s budget.

Matthew Belloni of Puck sought to clarify the program’s uncertain future after a Tuesday report by Page Six claimed that Kimmel’s current season could be his “last.”

ABC quickly rejected that account, describing it as “purely speculative” and “inaccurate.”

However, Belloni reported Friday that negotiations have been held up by Disney Chairman Debra OConnell’s firm demand for cuts to the show’s spending.

“A strong source close to the situation told me 20 percent of the current budget was a fair estimate,” Belloni wrote.

OConnell oversees all of ABC’s programming. Kimmel’s contract expires in May, and the host agreed to a one-year deal last year instead of his customary three-year contract.

Belloni, regarded as a prominent source of Hollywood industry news, reported that producing Jimmy Kimmel Live! costs approximately $100 million annually, citing two sources.

That figure was reportedly comparable to the cost of the now-canceled Late Show With Stephen Colbert, which CBS removed from its schedule in May for financial reasons.

Belloni characterized OConnell’s proposal as “a big ask for a show like Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

The program is currently in its 24th season.

Moreover, its host is ready to call it quits – at least not just yet, according to sources who spoke with Puck.

Kimmel ‘feels a bit of a responsibility to carry the torch as late night’s thorn in the president’s side,’ Belloni wrote. 

He reportedly wants to keep his platform until after the 2028 election, meaning at least another two years.

‘The last thing he wants is to give [Donald] Trump and his lapdog tormentor a reason to celebrate,’ added Belloni, with the other figure referenced being Federal Communications Commission (FCC) boss Brendan Carr.

Kimmel accused Carr of ‘threaten[ing] me, threaten[ing] our show, threaten[ing] our network, ABC, our affiliates, our local stations, based on simple, traditional, editorial decisions, guest bookings it would seem they don’t like.’

He claimed that the agency acted on behalf of the Trump administration to censor his interview with rising Dallas Democrat James Talarico. ABC posted it to YouTube rather than broadcast TV as originally planned Thursday night. 

The FCC is currently probing ABC’s right to broadcast on public airwaves, as well as potential violations of the equal time rule, a nearly century-old guidance originally meant to stop stations from swaying the outcomes of elections with repeat candidate appearances. 

Exemptions enjoyed since the ’90s allowed The View and certain late night shows free rein to book guests while being treated as ‘bona fide newscasts.’ Carr’s ongoing probe put the arrangements under scrutiny.

He has denied that the review stems from another crack from Kimmel, 58, in April where the host said Melania Trump exuded all the glow of an ‘expectant widow.’  

Carr was the one to tell conservative podcaster Benny Johnson that the host could face a probe for his September 2025 crack about the alleged killer of Charlie Kirk, after which several local ABC affiliates refused to put Kimmel on the air.

Disney went on to suspend the show for four days.  

The FCC has not revoked a broadcast license in more than four decades, with the last instance occurring in 1969 in Jackson, Mississippi, following allegations of defending segregation on-air against WLBT-TV. 

Kimmel, meanwhile, returned to the air on Tuesday after taking three months for a summer break.

The FCC is not part of the presidential administration and is its own independent entity.