Overview
- Jimmy Kimmel Live! won Best Talk Show at the Critics Choice Awards on Jan. 4, with Kimmel jokingly thanking “our president, Donald Jennifer Trump.”
- In his speech, he credited writers, actors, producers and unions for defending free expression after ABC briefly pulled the show last September.
- The September 2025 pause followed affiliate objections from Nexstar and Sinclair and public pressure from FCC commissioner Brendan Carr; the show returned six days later.
- Kimmel resumed broadcasts after the holiday break and opened 2026 by mocking Trump over the Kennedy Center Honors telecast delivering 3.01 million viewers, a 25% drop from 2024.
- The show’s standing grew with a reported ratings surge upon reinstatement and a Disney deal extending Jimmy Kimmel Live! through 2027.