Jimmy Kimmel signed a contract extension for his late-night show, securing its spot on the air through 2027, PEOPLE has learned. His current contract was slated to end in May 2026, but the deal he just signed takes him and the show through next year’s season, Bloomberg first reported.
The news of his contract extension comes amid President Donald Trump‘s continued calls for Jimmy Kimmel Live! to be taken off the air, many of which Kimmel, 58, has responded to with jokes on his show. Trump, 79, has even claimed Kimmel has “no talent” and “very poor television ratings” and even called him a “bum” in a Truth Social post last month.Jimmy Kimmel at The LINQ Promenade in Las Vegas on Nov. 11, 2022.
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Jimmy Kimmel on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ on Nov. 18, 2020.
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Kimmel’s contract extension also comes nearly three months after Disney’s ABC decided to pull the series from the air “indefinitely” on Sept. 17 following Kimmel’s comments on Charlie Kirk’s death. At the time, the network confirmed to PEOPLE that Kimmel’s “comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located.”
“Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue.”
The show was off the air for six nights before returning on Sept. 24, as Kimmel paid tribute to Kirk and his widow, Erika Kirk, in his monologue.
Two days later, he jokingly thanked Trump for the suspension after it was revealed the show had its “second-highest rated [episode] in almost 23 years on the air” when he returned after the hiatus. “We couldn’t have done it without you, Mr. President,” Kimmel quipped.Jimmy Kimmel hosts ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ on Nov. 5, 2025.
Kimmel had been open about the possibility that his late-night show’s run could be coming to an end prior to his suspension this year.
In February 2024, he told the Los Angeles Times that the three-year contract he signed in 2022 would likely be his last. “I hate to even say it, because everyone’s laughing at me now — each time I think that, and then it turns out to be not the case,” he joked.
Kimmel then added, “I still have a little more than two years left on my contract, and that seems pretty good. That seems like enough.”
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