ABC has knocked down a report that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s long-running show is heading into its final season after more than two decades on air, insisting nothing has been decided about the program’s future. The network’s pushback followed a report published on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, claiming the comedian’s contract would not be renewed beyond the 24th season of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
“His contract is not getting extended,” a source familiar with the matter told the New York Post. The report said the season that premiered on Tuesday, September 8, would be the show’s last, with the run expected to wrap in May 2027.
ABC Entertainment flatly disputed the account. A spokesperson said in a statement: “This information is inaccurate — any reports about the future of the show at this point are purely speculative.”
Kimmel Returns for His 4,000th Show
Kimmel, 58, has been behind the ABC desk since 2003, giving him one of the longest runs in network late-night history. He returned to the studio on Tuesday, September 8, after a summer break he chose to take, during which a rotating lineup of celebrity guest hosts filled in for him.
Kimmel marked a milestone in his opening monologue. “This is a big show for us; not only is this my first show back, this is our 4,000th show,” he said, adding a joke that the White House would put the tally at too many. He recalled that the show debuted after the Super Bowl in January 2003 and had outlived both the doubters who predicted a quick demise and the officials who tried to get the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to pull it off the air prematurely.
Shortly before his return, comedian and actress Rosie O’Donnell wrapped up four nights as guest host, a stretch that was reported as a ratings success.
A Feud That Reached the FCC
President Donald Trump, 80, has called for Kimmel to be fired again and again. After CBS axed Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” in July 2025, the president cheered the cancellation, predicted Kimmel would be the next to go and said the ABC host had even less talent than Colbert.
ABC took Kimmel off the air for a short stretch in September 2025 over comments he made about the killing of conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk. That same year, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar Media Group dropped the show from their ABC affiliates.
The fight escalated after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, appearing on a right-wing podcast hosted by political commentator Benny Johnson, said Kimmel had joined an intentional effort to deceive the American public. Carr cautioned that companies had a choice: handle the host themselves, or leave the commission with more work still to do.
Trump renewed his demand for Kimmel’s dismissal in April, after the host delivered a send-up of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner address in the days before the actual event. “Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,” Kimmel said of First Lady Melania Trump. The line landed two days before the shooting at the dinner.
Both the president and the first lady went after the host over the joke, and the first lady pressed ABC to take a position. Kimmel later argued that the gag was a reference to the president’s age, not to assassination.
Ratings Highs and a Cost-Cutting Boss
The attacks from inside the White House have not dented the show’s numbers. Its average monthly rating as of June was the strongest since the program first aired, and the show is up for six Emmy awards on September 14.
Kimmel has favored year-to-year deals over multiyear commitments, an approach that keeps his options open. His agreement with ABC runs through May 2027.
Sources quoted in the report said any shake-up was unlikely to be tied to the host’s clashes with the administration, and one television insider said Josh D’Amaro, Disney’s new chief, would not cave to political pressure where Kimmel is concerned. D’Amaro has reportedly been leading a restructuring and cost-cutting push at Disney, with early retirement offers extended to some longtime executives — leaving open the possibility, the report said, that money rather than politics could shape Kimmel’s future.
Disney and ABC, meanwhile, have sued the Trump administration and the FCC on First Amendment grounds over the agencies’ early review of the network’s broadcast licenses, a review the company has called a threat to its existence.
