Jimmy Kimmel Admits to ‘Dodging’ Question About His Future in Late-Night TV

Jimmy Kimmel is unsure about his future in late-night TV.

Speaking to reporters backstage at the at the 2025 Creative Arts Emmys on Sunday, Sept. 7, following his win for Outstanding Host for a Game Show for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Kimmel admitted he doesn’t know how long he plans to keep hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC.

“I’m not prepared to answer that question, but it is something that I think about a lot and things have changed a lot over the last few years,” Kimmel told IndieWire. “Each day is a new adventure and I kind of take them as they come.”

“Is that a good way of dodging the question?” he added.

Kimmel previously hinted that he may consider giving up his late-night show sooner rather than later.

The comedian confessed in an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 2024 that he’d been thinking about hanging up his mic, telling the publication, “I think this is my final contract.”

“I hate to even say it, because everyone’s laughing at me now — each time I think that, and then it turns out to be not the case,” he added. “I still have a little more than two years left on my contract, and that seems pretty good. That seems like enough.”

Given the timing of Kimmel’s quotes, that would indicate that Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which first aired in 2003, would continue airing through the upcoming 2025-2026 television season.

If Kimmel decides to call it quits then, it would coincide with the end of another late-night staple: The Late Show.

Stephen Colbert announced in the opening monologue of his July 17 episode that CBS was canceling The Late Show and that the upcoming season would be its last.

“It’s not just the end of our show, but it’s the end of The Late Show on CBS. I’m not being replaced,” he said at the time. “This is all just going away.”

CBS called the cancellation of The Late Show “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”

Many questioned the timing of the cancellation, as the decision came days after Colbert criticized Paramount, the parent company of CBS, during his July 14 episode for its $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump on July 3.

The settlement occurred while Paramount was in the midst of a merger with the entertainment company Skydance, a business move that required approval from Trump’s administration. That merger was complete on Aug. 7.

Kimmel and other late-night hosts defended Colbert in the aftermath of The Late Show‘s cancellation.

Reacting to the news of The Late Show being canceled, Kimmel took to his Instagram Story, writing, “Love you Stephen. F— you and all your Sheldons CBS.”

The Tonight Show‘s Jimmy Fallon, Late Night‘s Seth Meyers, The Daily Show‘s Jon Stewart and Last Week Tonight‘s John Oliver all made unannounced cameos on The Late Show following the news to show their support as well.

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Kimmel even took it one step further, putting up a billboard ad in L.A. encouraging Emmy voters to vote for Colbert in the Outstanding Talk Series category.

That category is populated by just three nominees: Stewart’s The Daily Show, Kimmel’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Colbert’s The Late Show.

That winner will be announced during the 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards, airing Sunday, Sept. 14.