As it was revealed recently, one of the longest-running late-night talk shows, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, has been taken off the air for an indefinite period of time by the ABC network. This suspension, and an alleged cancellation of the show hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, came after the remarks that he made following political influencer Charlie Kirk.
But this wasn’t the first time that Kimmel has been at the center of a big controversy, as he has had several situations like these that he has managed to come out unscathed. Therefore, from President Donald Trump to Elon Musk, along with comments on many topics, here are the instances where Jimmy Kimmel had controversial things to say.
Jimmy Kimmel Said MAGA Is Using Charlie Kirk’s Death to Score ‘Political Points’
The straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back was on the September 15th episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where the host remarked on all the supporters of the MAGA movement and claimed that they were trying to score political points for their cause. His words were:
We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.
This came only 5 days after Kirk was assassinated by a young individual at Utah Valley University. Thus, following this monologue, Nexstar Media Group Inc. pulled the show’s airing from the network and other media, calling them insensitive and offensive (via BBC).
Body-Shamed Donald Trump, Called Him a ‘Chubby Little Teacup’
This wasn’t the first time Kimmel called out the MAGA movement and its face on his show, as on the September 5th episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host went on a monologue about the POTUS.
In the monologue, he addresses Trump’s comments about late-night talk shows being canceled if this type of incendiary and provocative language continues to be used against the President. Here, Kimmel says:
Oh, you delicate, chubby little teacup. Did we hurt your feelings? You want us to be canceled because we make jokes about you? I thought you were against cancel culture?
In the same monologue, Kimmel also called out all of his decisions as crazy, while calling him Dracula, who will suck the US citizens dry.
Kimmel’s Insulting Comment on Elon Musk & Tesla Vehicle Vandalism
The host of the late-night talk show also went ahead and made comments on the prevalent acts of vandalism that were being faced by Tesla owners due to Elon Musk’s affiliation with President Trump in the past. On the March 19 episode of the show (via TV Insider), Kimmel allegedly played off the burning of Tesla cars in an encouraging manner, saying:
People have been vandalizing Tesla vehicles, new Tesla vehicles. Please, don’t vandalize, don’t ever vandalize Tesla vehicles.
This was followed by Musk himself tweeting about it on X, claiming that Kimmel was an ‘Unfunny Joker.’
Mocked Melania Trump’s Accent & Got Away With It
Kimmel once mocked the accent that the current First Lady of the US, Melania Trump, speaks in. During an episode of the show in 2018, the host was seen mocking the 140th annual White House Easter Egg Roll, where, later, he brought up a clip of Mrs. Trump reading a children’s book (via Fox News).
Here, he repeated the same thing that everyone could hear in the clip, but used a more caricatured version of her accent that would make the audience laugh.
Jimmy Kimmel’s Humiliating Remarks About Video Game Streaming
Jimmy Kimmel has even gone after gamers in his time on the show, which didn’t go well for him either. In 2015, he made a joke that stated that watching someone else play video games was absolutely ridiculous. After that video went viral, hordes of angry gamers let the host get a piece of their minds.
In the follow-up video, he was seen yet again making light of the situation as he read the thread of angry comments left on his previous video. He also said that he likes making groups of people mad from time to time, which he did here as well.
Jimmy Kimmel Said ‘America Is Filthy’ After Japan Trip
While the butt of his jokes may have been many individuals over the years, one of his comments struck a nerve with a majority of the US audience. In an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! last year, the host talked about the family trip to Japan that he recently took.
What got many people mad was his comments on the bathroom situation in the US, where he revealed that even gas station and truck stop bathrooms were clean beyond belief. He then called the US a ‘filthy and disgusting country’ on live TV, which sparked outrage.
Used Blackface to Impersonate Karl Malone
Perhaps one of the most outrageous things by today’s standards, which wasn’t the case in the late 1990s, Kimmel once impersonated NBA star Karl Malone in an episode of The Man Show. This was an instance where he was seen doing the infamous Blackface sketch, not only with Malone, but also with Snoop Dogg and Oprah Winfrey’s caricatures.
Kimmel talked about it years later and also published a serious apology to the people, stating how he regretted it extremely at the same time, calling them ‘thoughtless moments’ at the time (via CNN).
“Guess what’s in my pants” – Jimmy Kimmel to Multiple Women
While he may be one of the best late-night talk show hosts of all time, some of his works from his early career have many instances that would put him in deep trouble today. One such example was Blackface, the other was borderline harassment in The Man Show.
Known for showing support for Hollywood’s female empowerment movement, The Man Show, which he hosted with co-comic Adam Carolla, made overtly sexist skits that purposefully placed women in extremely uncomfortable situations.
One such example was the ‘Guess what’s in my pants’ skit, where he would ask women to touch his pants all over and guess what’s in them, advising them to ‘use their mouths’ to guess.
Jimmy Kimmel Agreed ‘Killing Everyone in China’ Was an Interesting Idea
This controversy was one of the biggest ones of his career, as it seemed like Kimmel was talking about genocide. In a 2013 episode of the show, he invited several 6–7-year-old children to discuss the U.S. debt problem. Here, after telling them how the US owes China $1.3 trillion in debt, one of the young boys said that America should ‘Kill everyone in China.’
While it may have been brushed off as a naive joke, what made it worse was Kimmel’s retreat to the question a while later, when he asked the boy ‘Should we allow the Chinese to live?’ without hesitation (via Business Insider).
Here are more details about Jimmy Kimmel Live! in a tabular format
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Jimmy Kimmel Live! is available to stream on Hulu (US).