It sounds like the vibes among the suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! staff are not especially optimistic.
Rick Ellis, a veteran journalist who publishes the “Too Much TV” Substack, spoke with an unidentified staffer at the ABC late-night series, which is currently on an indefinite hiatus.
“I’m in the middle of one of those moments that really defines the type of person you are,” the staffer said, explaining his or her motivations for speaking up.
Though the experience on the show over the past few years “has been great,” the person said that “everything around it has sucked.”
“It was becoming increasingly clear in recent weeks that Sir Iger and the ABC executives would cut us loose in a second if they thought something we did might hurt attendance at Disney World or cost anyone their annual bonus,” said the staffer who participated in the interview on the condition of anonymity.
They further said they were not “shocked” by ABC’s decision to suspend the show, but “surprised” by the timing. “But you could see it coming,” the person said. “Every time some MAGA asshat would spout off about the show, the knot in my stomach just got tighter.”
Kimmel and ABC have been holding talks about the show’s future, though it remains uncertain whether the late-night host, who has mused about retirement before, would want to return. Though giving his staff a runway to future employment may be a reason that he opts to do so.
“There are a lot of people working on the show who can’t afford to be out of work. They have jobs that won’t pay them if they don’t work. And they likely don’t have much money saved up,” the staffer told Ellis. “If you’re in Hollywood and don’t want to say anything in support publicly … well, fuck you. But one thing you can do is find a job for one of the staffers who need it right now. Even if it means digging into your own pocket. Spending a little of your own money is the least you can do. Honestly, it is the least you can do.”
All that said, when asked, the staffer said he “can’t imagine a scenario” in which the show returns. “Even if Jimmy was willing to publicly apologize and donate money to whatever ghoulish conservative group that is demanding it … MAGA people will never be happy. It will never be enough. And Disney will look at the situation and decide it’s cheaper to buy out the rest of his contract and replace the show with reruns of Modern Family and Judge Judy.”
ABC made the call to pull Kimmel’s show after receiving blowback from network affiliates, sponsors and viewers.
Disney TV chief Dana Walden delivered the news to Kimmel but did not ask him to apologize, a source says, who described Wednesday as “a very heavy, very hard day” inside the walls of Disney and ABC.