Jimmy Kimmel has signed a one-year extension with Disney’s ABC Network and will continue to host Jimmy Kimmel Live! through at least 2027, the Guardian has confirmed.
Bloomberg first reported the news on Monday, noting that Kimmel and Disney struck a new one year extension. His current contract had been set to expire in May 2026.
Kimmel and Disney agreed on the extension several months ago but delayed announcing their plans out of respect for fellow late-night host Stephen Colbert, according to Bloomberg.
This summer, CBS announced that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert had been cancelled and would end in May 2026.
The news of Kimmel’s renewal on Monday comes several months after Kimmel’s show was briefly suspended by ABC in September under pressure from two of the network’s biggest affiliate partners, Nexstar and Sinclair, as well as the Federal Communications Commission. Kimmel had made comments related to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, specifically accusing Donald Trump’s political movement of exploiting Kirk’s killing.
His suspension drew widespread outrage and ignited a national debate over free speech.
The US-based free speech advocate group the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said at the time of the suspension that it was an example of another media outlet that had “withered under government pressure, ensuring that the administration will continue to extort and exact retribution on broadcasters and publishers who criticize it.
“We cannot be a country where late night talk show hosts serve at the pleasure of the president. But until institutions grow a backbone and learn to resist government pressure, that is the country we are.”
