As Jimmy Kimmel’s time at Disney comes to an end, a troubled relationship behind the scenes has been revealed.
As Page Six previously reported, the longtime late-night host is expected to end his show near the end of this year after 24 years.
Sources say Page Six is partly to blame because it “never played well in the virtual space.”
For example, he rarely appears on the company’s ABC shows like “Good Morning America” and “The View” because, we’re told, “he doesn’t want to do bullshit.”
“And when he does that, he gets into a dead end,” according to a source.
The insider said he expects Disney shows to “support the things he’s doing.” “But he would never talk back,” they said, “he would never let anyone from ABC News on the show… People would get upset.”
Multiple sources shared similar stories, adding that the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” star rarely invites New York talent to his show, which he brings to Brooklyn every year. “He’s unmanageable,” another source said, noting how he found success fronting Disney in May. “It was disturbing to say the least,” they said.
Other insiders have pushed back, saying Kimmel has hosted “66 synergy guests” since October of last year, appeared on “GMA” in May and then on “Live with Kelly and Mark,” and recorded his obligatory taped messages to ABC’s local affiliate stations. They also noted that Kimmel has hosted the Oscars, which air on ABC, multiple times.
Although they insist he’s been a team player for all of his 25 seasons, our first source quipped: “He’s becoming a better corporate partner because he was on weak ground.” They cited Kimmel’s adversarial relationship with President Donald Trump, which led to his temporary withdrawal from the airwaves last year.
Kimmel was said to have felt unprotected by the network throughout the episode, despite being one of the longest-running late-night hosts in TV history. An industry insider also told us that CBS canceling “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” opens the door for ABC to do the same with Kimmel.
After Page Six reported in September that his contract would not be extended beyond 2027, a spokesperson described our information as “inaccurate.” But when asked about the future of Kimmel’s show during a call with Bloomberg’s Screentime at the end of the month, president Dana Walden said the network was “trying to honor a deep partnership while also making sense of the business.”
“I love Jimmy. We have a great friendship. He’s close with a lot of people at Disney. We’re trying to figure that out and figure out what Jimmy wants. What’s the right thing to do and what’s the right thing for our business,” he said.
A spokesperson for Kimmel and ABC Entertainment did not comment on this story.